


He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother

by superwholockfangirl



Series: He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Caretaking, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, Keith is a Mess, M/M, Minor Violence, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Shiro is a good brother, Shiro tries, Sickfic, broganes, klance but focuses on broganes, low key autistic keith, only in the later chapters though, poor boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-09
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-07-10 04:37:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 25,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15941939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superwholockfangirl/pseuds/superwholockfangirl
Summary: „What do you mean I have a brother?”Those were the words everything had started with; the words that had turned Shiro’s world upside down.- - -When Shiro found out he has a 15 year old brother who has been abused in foster care, he did everything it took to get him home with him. But Keith is guraded and suspicious and not all that much interested in making himself at home. Shiro tries everything to win the younger boy's trust but in the end it's up to Keith if he's ready to finally let him in and reveal his past.Lots of h/c and fluff, especially in the later chapters.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Thank you for reading this <3  
> I started writing this fic before I found out about Adam so this includes minor Shallura. Otherwise, this is mainly about broganes. I hope you enjoy this fanfic and leave me some kudos and comments :)

_„What do you mean I have a brother?”_

 

Those were the words everything had started with; the words that had turned Shiro’s world upside down. Yes, he’d known his mother had left them when he was only seven year old after a fight with his Dad, but he hadn’t known she’d been pregnant at this point of time! How could he?

 

When the woman of the youth welfare service had called, it had been an utter shock. After Krolia (He had stopped calling her Mum after she left) had run off with another guy, he’d never heard of her again and his Dad had died two years ago in a car accident. He’d thought, he had no living family member left. His life had been his job as a gym instructor, the awkward flirting with Allura, his co-worker and the weekly movie nights with his best friend Matt. Nothing special but he’d liked it.

 

This call had changed everything. Apparently, he had a 15 year old brother who’d been in foster care the last six years. According to the young woman he’d talked to on the phone, Keith had kept getting into trouble and never stayed for longer than a few months with the same family. There also had been abuse, even if she hadn’t gone further into detail about it. Shiro still didn’t know what had happened but she’d told him, it wouldn’t be very wise to put him into another family and therefore they were searching for a permanent solution. As soon as possible.

 

Well, Shiro was 23, had no idea about education and parenting and so far, he hadn’t even begun to think about kids. Adopting a problem child, a teenager none the less, he didn’t even know would be pretty stupid, right? Well, at least Shiro had enough sense to know that he was being foolish while he’d filled out the necessary papers.

 

But he had a brother. A brother who’d probably already gone through hell after living nine years with their crazy cocaine-addicted mother (that was at least what the CPS had told him) and the next six years being pushed from one family to the other. A brother who really needed him right now. Being there for him was the least he could do. Keith had nobody. Shiro’d always had his Dad, at least and after he’d died, Matt’s family had been there for him and made sure he knew he was not alone. He couldn’t imagine how his brother had probably felt all those years.

 

So, yes, he had signed all the necessary forms and then had to endure an inspection of his home, an interview and a background check before he was finally allowed to take Keith home with him. Shiro was living in the little house he’d inherited from his father. It wasn’t big but he had an extra room for Keith and for the two of them it should be enough.

 

The two last weeks had been stressful. He had to get everything ready for Keith and the community workers who checked his home and spoke with his friends and co-workers to make sure he could be entrusted with taking care of a child. Shiro worried less about the CPS, but more about his brother. He had no idea what Keith was like; his needs, hobbies, character. So far, he hadn’t been able to get in touch with him and he was scared he might make a mistake. What if Keith didn’t even want to live with him? What if they wouldn’t get along at all?

 

Well, there was no going back now. At least, Shiro had his friends who supported his decision and promised to help wherever they could.

 

Finally, the day came where Shiro was allowed to pick up Keith. He’d already talked with Coran thus he could take the week off. Restlessly, he drummed his fingertips on the wheel. God, he had never been this nervous in his whole live! The four hours it took to drive from the small town he lived in to Arizona where he was supposed to pick up Keith, were the four longest hours he’d ever experienced!

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Keith and a child service worker had taken a flight from Texas and would now wait for him at the local branch of the CPS.

 

When Shiro arrived, he was lead to a small office where a young woman waited for him. She was probably in her late twenties but looked much older. She had dark blonde hair tied up into a bun. Big bags were under her grey eyes and the clothes she wore seemed much too wide for her slim figure. The woman smiled tiredly at him as she shook his hand. “Mr Shirogane? I’m Maya. We already talked on the phone. I’m supervising your brother’s case since four years.”

 

Shiro nodded at her, “Nice to meet you.”

 

“Oh, you have no idea how glad I am everything worked out! As a social worker I’m supervising between thirty and sixty cases and barely have time for the kids but your brother’s fate affected me deeply.”

 

He frowned. “That doesn’t sound good. I heard there was abuse but I don’t know any details.”

 

“Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to tell you about this either. Keith is the one you should ask about this. All I can tell you is that it wasn’t pretty. I’m really doing my best but even with all the experience I have, no one can really tell what’s going on behind locked doors. I really regret Keith had bad luck pretty much each time I placed him in a new foster home. After the last time, I didn’t have the heart to send him to another family. “, she sighed, “I spent two weeks searching for any living family members. I cried in relive when I found you and you said you would actually take him.”

 

“Wow.”, Shiro didn’t know what to say, “Sounds like I owe you a lot. I never knew I had a brother, otherwise I would’ve searched for him. Our Dad died a few years ago, so he’s the only family I have left, I guess. I promise I will do my best to take care of Keith.”

 

Maya smiled and he recognized the tears in her eyes as she squeezed his hand. “You have no idea how good it feels to hear this! I won’t be able to supervise his case anymore since I work in another state, but I would be grateful if you could write me every now and then to let me know how he is.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“I’m sorry for getting so emotional.”, she laughed wiping away the tears, “I didn’t sleep much. You probably want to see your brother right now?”

 

Shiro nodded eagerly. He was excited to finally meet Keith. “What’s he like?”, he asked while following her through a white corridor.

 

“Well, he has issues. After everything he went through that’s hardly surprising. He got into trouble more than once because of fights. He’s hot headed and pretty closed off. But all in all, he’s a good boy. Very bright and he has a good heart. It’s hard to get him to let his guard down though.”

 

Shiro nodded. That didn’t sound too bad. They would deal with Keith’s problems step by step and he would do everything he could to help him.

 

“I should warn you, after the experiences he made so far, he’s suspicious of pretty much everybody and expects bad intentions behind everything. He’ll need a lot of patience and understanding.”

 

“Of course. I’ll do everything to help him.”

 

“Good.”, she smiled and stopped in front of a wooden door, “Ready?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Maya opened the door.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm glad everyone seems to like this so far and I'll try to Keep with all of you! Thanks a lot for all the nice comments and the positive Feedback, it really means a lot to me!  
> But enough of me being all sappy! Ready to meet Baby Keith?

“Keith?”

 

The dark haired boy on the opposite of the room looked up from his book. He was at least one head smaller than Shiro, if not two. His milky pale skin stood in great contrast to his black longish hair and the dark clothes he wore. The huge eyes looked almost purple, thus Shiro had to blink twice to make sure he wasn’t mistaken. He swallowed. Keith looked so much like her.

 

“Hi, Keith.”, he smiled, “I’m Takashi, but everyone calls me Shiro.”

 

The younger boy eyed him suspiciously. He hesitated before he shook the hand Shiro offered him.

 

“I guess, I’ll leave you to it then.”, Maya said, “If you have any question, Mr Shirogane, don’t hesitate to call me. The rest of the forms will be send to you sometime during the next two weeks.”, she nodded at the two of them before she left.

 

“I’m really excited to finally meet you. I know this is a little weird since we don’t know each other but I promise, I will do my best!”, Shiro said.

 

Keith looked at the wall behind Shiro’s head his expression unreadable.

 

“Did I say something wrong?”, he wondered. So far, Keith hadn’t said anything to him.

 

“Not yet.”, the younger one snorted. Shiro wanted to ask what he meant but he doubted he would get an answer. There would be time for questions later.

 

“Anyway, I’m glad I can take you home with me. Speaking of, do you wanna go? We can talk in the car.”, he offered.

 

Keith nodded.

 

“Where are your things?”

 

The younger one grabbed a backpack, the book he’d been reading and a red cropped jacket. “Ready to go.”, he informed the taller man.

 

Shiro bit back a shocked “That’s all?” and nodded at him smiling. “Cool. Shall I take your bag?” But when he reached out for the backpack, Keith flinched pulling away. “Or not. I just thought it might be a bit heavy.”

 

“I get along!”, he didn’t sound impolite but anxious, Shiro thought, like he was scared that his things were going to be taken away from him any moment. He tried for a reassuring smile. Keith probably had not many constants in his life. The things in this bag were likely to be the only reminders of his past.

 

“Of course.”, he guided them outside the building and to his car. He sensed Keith hesitating before entering. Probably his survival instinct telling him this wouldn’t be a good idea. Shiro waited patiently until Keith seemed ready and got into the car.

 

“So…”, he pulled out of the parking lot, “You wanna tell me a little about you, buddy?”

 

Keith shrugged, “There’s nothing much to tell.”

 

“I can’t quite believe that.”, the older boy smiled.

 

“If you’re so keen on talking, why don’t _you_ tell me something about you?”, Keith asked daringly.

 

Shiro blinked in surprise. “Sure. I don’t know what they told you already, but I’m twenty-three and I’m working as a gym instructor.”

 

“I should’ve seen that coming.”, Keith huffed out a laugh glancing at his heavily muscled arms. It was the first time Shiro saw him laugh and he found it was a good look on him. Unfortunately, Keith quickly realized what he was doing and went back to frowning.

“Well, it’s a good job. My boss is very nice. He wants to meet you by the way and so do my other friends.”

 

Keith raised his eyebrows in surprise. Obviously, he hadn’t expected this. 

 

“You don’t have to, of course. I like good movies and books from time to time and everything that has to do with science fiction. Oh, I have a cat by the way. His name’s Slav and he’s annoying as hell! I kinda hoped that you’re allergic to cats so I can give them away without bad conscience.”, he smiled. He would go slow and collect every bit of information Keith was ready to offer.

 

“Sorry to disappoint you. I like cats.”

 

 _Likes cats and is not allergic to them_. Shiro made a mental note. “I don’t know what’s with you, but I’m about to starve! You like McDonald’s?”

 

Keith shrugged, “Dunno. Never been there.”

 

“What?! How come?”

 

Again, the younger boy only shrugged.

 

“Well, shall we pull over then? Because on my way here I saw a McDonald’s only a few minutes from here and the ride home will take a few hours.”

 

“Sure. If you want to.” That was probably the closest he’d come to get his suggestion approved. Keith had to be hungry anyway. After all, everybody knew plane food wasn’t edible. He stopped in front the Fast food restaurant and got off the car.

 

Keith followed him into the building. Inside, it was crowded and noisy. Immediately, Shiro could feel how Keith behind him stiffened. He turned around to find the younger boy completely tensed up. His eyes were scanning the room frantically for potential dangers while his hands had clenched into fists and his jaw was tensed. The backpack, he hadn’t wanted to leave behind in the car, he held tightly pressed against his chest and Shiro could see his knuckles turning white. “Keith?”, he tried to get his attention, “Keith? You okay?”

 

“Sure.” He said but flinched violently when someone accidently dropped their plate. “I’m fine.”

 

Shiro looked at him worriedly. It was quiet obvious that Keith wasn’t alright. He didn’t know what exactly bothered him but he didn’t want him to be uncomfortable. “You know what? Let’s eat in the car. It’s quieter there and so we can chat.”

 

Before the dark haired one could object, Shiro’d turned around again and stepped outside. It had started to rain and they hurried to the car. Keith didn’t say anything when they turned into the drive in and only shrugged when Shiro asked him what he wanted to eat.

 

“So…” Shiro started after they’d gotten their food and he stopped in the parking area to eat. “Do you have any questions about me?”

 

The younger one hesitated then shook his head.

 

“What is it? You can ask me everything you want to know.”, Shiro smiled reassuringly grabbing a few fries.

 

“What happened to your arm?”, Keith blurted out before he could stop himself. He ducked his head. “I mean…”

 

“No, it’s alright. A few years ago, Dad and I had a car accident. I was lucky. I only lost my arm and the father of a friend has good connections thus he managed to get me one of the newest prothesis.”, he petted his robotic arm “Sometimes, it’s like I never lost it in the first place. Not so with Dad. He died in the accident.”, Shiro sighed.

 

“He’s dead?”, Keith looked at him in surprise.

 

“You didn’t know?” One should think someone would tell you when your Dad died! Well, or that you had a brother for that matter. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want you to find out like this. If I had known-“

 

But Keith shook his head. “It’s okay. I mean, I didn’t know him, so…”, he looked down at his hands shrugging.

 

It made Shiro sad. He wished his Dad was here right now. He would know what to do. “He would’ve liked you.”

 

Keith laughed humourlessly. “Sure.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Nothing.”, Shiro knew he was lying but he didn’t press. If there was one thing he’d learned from his Dad it was that impatience usually wouldn’t get one anywhere. So, he pushed a burger and a milkshake towards the younger boy encouraging him to eat.

 

“I hope you like strawberry.”

 

“Sorry. I’m lactose intolerant.”

 

“Oh. Good to know.”, Shiro smiled, “Are you on meds because of it?”

 

Keith shook his head.

 

“Well, I’m going to take you to a doctor then.”, he promised, “And then, we’ll go out to fetch some ice cream.”

 

Back on the road, Shiro kept talking. He told Keith about his live, his friends and the school the younger boy would attend to and asked a few questions about him in return. Keith answers were mostly taciturn and monosyllabic. The less information this stranger had about him, the better.

 

Anyway, he wondered what Shiro wanted from him. Nobody took in an orphan simply because of kindness. That was what he’d learned over the last six years, at least. Some people just wanted someone to take out their anger on. Keith couldn’t count how often he’d turned up at school with a black eye or a cut lip because some overworked and underpaid civil servant needed to wreak out their frustration on him. They usually screamed a lot and were pretty direct about not liking one. It wasn’t funny to live with somebody like that but usually Keith could deal with it.

 

Then there were the people doing it for the money. This was normally a little trickier seeing that usually, this people had more than one kid at the same time and Keith didn’t get along with others well. Furthermore, most kids living in foster homes quickly learned how to come out on top. Many of them were bullies and if there was something Keith hated, it was cowards pushing around kids who couldn’t fight back.

 

For Keith, people who tried to replace a loved one were probably the hardest to deal with. He’d lived with an elderly couple for a few months whose daughter and grandson had died in a horrible accident. They’d expected Keith to fill out the empty hole their deaths had caused but this was something he hadn’t been able to do. The worst had been the disappointment in their eyes when they realized this too. Fortunately, there weren’t many people like this.

 

Then, there was the fourth kind. The kind he didn’t want to think about and that made him shudder with the need to throw up.

 

He wondered in which category Shiro belonged. Judging by how much interest he showed in him and the way he acted towards him, he’d assume it was either the third or the fourth category. God, he hoped it wasn’t number four!

 

“Keith? Are you alright?”

 

He nodded.

 

“Well, we’re there.”

 

They’d parked on a driveaway in front of a small wooden house. It actually looked pretty nice in Keith’s opinion. No bars in front of the windows that kept one from escaping and even on the upper floor the windows weren’t so high that one wouldn’t survive jumping out of one of them.

 

Shiro excited the car and waited for Keith to follow him. “I’ll give you your own key, so you can come and go whenever you like.”, he told him while unlocking the door.

 

Okay, that was a new one, Keith noted slightly surprised.

 

Shiro picked up on it. “You’re not a prisoner here.”

 

The younger boy nodded slowly. Probably just another trick to win his trust. He wasn’t going to make the same mistake again. He held his bag close by as he followed Shiro inside. The first thing he noticed was that every door had keyholes. That didn’t necessarily mean that there were automatically keys in reach for him too but it was a good sign. The walls on the other hand were a little lagged for his taste. From outside one would probably hear nothing of the going ones inside the house.

 

He eyed the rest of his new home suspiciously. Seen from the floor, he recognized an open plan kitchen next to the living room. Behind the two closed doors were a storeroom and a bathroom as Shiro told him. The big windows and the bright green walls made a friendly non-threatening impact but Keith knew from experience that appearances were deceiving.

 

“You can put your jacket there.”, Shiro said pointing at the wardrobe, “Come on, I’ll show you around!”

 

“I’d prefer not to.”, Keith said clutching his jacket tight. He’d learned that it was better to keep everything one owned in reach.

 

“Oh. Sure. Of course, you don’t have to hang it up. You’re free to take it with you if you like.”, Shiro looked a little put off by this. Probably, he didn’t expect Keith to look right through his charming façade. “So, you wanna see your room?”

 

Honestly, Keith didn’t care much about it. He probably wouldn’t stay long here, anyway. As soon as this guy realized he wouldn’t give him what he wanted, he was going to let him fall like everybody before him did. He shrugged.

 

“Okay. It’s upstairs.”, the older boy explained as he went to the stairs across the living room. “It’s nothing special, especially since this whole thing came very surprising to me, but it should be enough for the first time. We’ll get whatever you need during the next days.”, he promised “Don’t hesitate to tell me if you there’s something you want.”

 

Keith knew better than to actually respond to that offer. If he did that he’d own Shiro who would use his guilt feelings against him. He kept silent as the taller boy opened the door to a room. A keyhole but no key. It shouldn’t surprise him. Shiro might be good but he wouldn’t fool him that easily.

 

The room wasn’t the biggest he’d ever had but certainly not the smallest either. In the corner stood an old shed next to an almost empty bookshelf. A small desk was in front of the big window with an anglepoise lamp on it. When Keith stepped closer he recognized the street and in the distance a few fields and woodland through the half-drawn curtains. The bed stood cattycorner the shed and had like half a dozen red fluffy pillows on them. The walls were colored in creme-white while the carpet and curtains were kept in red. All in all, the room looked pretty comfy. Still, Keith was suspicious.

 

“I err, I’ll leave you to unpack. I would be glad if you came down afterwards. We could, I don’t know, talk or watch a movie or I could show you the town. Unless, of course, you’re tired and want to rest a little.”

 

“I’m not tired.” Never show weakness. The words had left Keith’s mouth before he could think about it.

 

“Great. I see you later then. We have to make up a lot of time, I guess.”, Shiro squeezed his shoulder before he left. If he felt him flinch, the older boy didn’t say anything.

 

Keith didn’t unpack. Mainly because there wasn’t much to unpack in the first place – he only owned one other shirt and trouser, after all. Apart from clothes, he only had a few dollars, a couple of books and his toothbrush. He took out the book he’d been reading lately before he pushed his backpack as far as he could beneath his bed.

 

Keith went around in his room exploring his new home. He couldn’t see anything  that looked especially striking to him. If this was a good sign or not, he wasn’t sure. Sighing, he sat onto the ground leaning against a bedpost and began to read. Right now, there was nothing much he could do. He had to wait until Shiro revealed his true intentions and he hoped this would happen soon, so he’d know what he had to deal with. Patience wasn’t exactly his strong point though.

 

About two hours later, Shiro came back to check on him. He knocked upon his door before he entered with two glasses of lemonade in his hands. “Hey, buddy. You thirsty?”

 

The younger boy squinted suspiciously at him but nodded. “Thanks.”, he mumbled the older man handed him the glass.

 

Shiro beamed at him, “You’re welcome. Can I sit down?”

 

“Can’t keep you from doing so.”

 

“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do.”

 

Keith had to keep himself from snorting. But apparently Shiro was really waiting for him to give him the permission. “I don’t mind if you want to sit down.”, he said finally.

 

“Cool. So, what are you reading?”

 

“A book.”

 

Shiro laughed, “I can see that. What is it about?”

 

“It’s a nonfiction book about the serial killer H.H Holmes.”

 

“Oh. You like reading stuff like that?”, Shiro wanted to know.

 

The dark haired boy shrugged, “It’s interesting and I like reading everything I can get.” He bit his lip. He shouldn’t have said that. Too much information that could be used against him.

 

“You like reading? That’s great! Well, I have a few books in my room and we still should have some in the basement.”

 

Keith flinched at the mention of a basement. Of course, this house had one. What had he expected? “Basement?”, he swallowed.

 

“Yeah. The door to it is next to the bathroom. You wanna see it?” Shiro asked misinterpreting Keith’s reaction.

 

“I’d rather not.”, he grimaced clenching his hands into fists.

 

“Oh, okay. Well, if you change your mind, let me know. In the meantime, you’re free to read every book from my room.”, the older one offered.

 

“Thanks.”, Keith said sipping on his lemonade.

 

“You’re not big on talking, are you?”, Shiro smiled.

 

“I’m sorry I’m not entertaining you well enough.”, he huffed.

 

“I’m not criticizing you, it’s okay if you don’t like talking. Besides, it’s really not your job to keep me entertained.”, Shiro reassured him.

 

“Yeah? What’s it all about then?” Once again, his tongue had been quicker than his brain and before he could process what he was about to do, the words had left his mouth.

 

“Keith, you’re my little brother! I want to spend time with you to get to know you. I don’t expect anything of you, you know that, right?” What did Keith think of him?

 

 _Sure._ “Sure.” So, he wanted to play the family card. Great. For Keith, blood didn’t count. It didn’t matter that they were related, Keith doubted this fact would keep him from- well, whatever he wanted to do with him.

 

Shiro wasn’t sure if Keith was actually convinced but he let it slide. It would probably take a little until the younger boy would really trust him and until then, he shouldn’t press too much. “Good. Are you hungry yet? I’m not good at cooking, so I usually go out to eat or call a delivery service.”

 

“Not really.”

 

The older boy looked up and down his body. Keith seemed way too skinny for his taste and he wondered if he’d always gotten enough food in the past. He probably should eat. _Don’t push!_ , he reminded himself again. “Well, I can order Pizza later or would you prefer something different?”

 

“Pizza’s good.”

 

“Okay. Shall I call the delivery service in about an hour then?”

 

Keith nodded.

 

“Well, I’ll let you go back to reading now then.”, Shiro smiled and reached out for him to ruffle his hair before leaving. Keith startled by his sudden movement flinched away from his hand violently. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, I-”

 

“You didn’t. Just surprised me, is all.”, he said quickly.

 

“Of course. I only tried to stroke your hair. I should’ve asked you before though.”

 

“It’s okay.” Keith shrugged. He would lie if he said he hadn’t been scared at the mere thought of what Shiro’s hand could do to him. Still, he shouldn’t have jerked away like this. If Shiro thought he was afraid, it made him vulnerable.

 

“Do you mind?”, the older boy asked, his hand raised again.

 

Keith squinted at him suspiciously but shook his head. When Shiro’s hand touched his hair, he had to fight the impulse to close his eyes. It was nice to feel the older boy’s nails scratch the scalp of his head. He wasn’t used to be touched affectionately, so this was a first one.

 

“Feels good, huh?”

 

He blushed. With a final pet on his head, Shiro stood up and went to the door. In the doorframe he turned around one last time. “I’m glad you’re here, Keith.”

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm really excited about all the nice comments and the positive Feedback I'm getting, so thanks a lot to everyone who left me a comment or kudos and encouraged me to continue <3 <3 <3

The next morning, Keith was awoken by someone opening his door and entering quietly. He guessed, it was Shiro who was approaching him. “Keith?”, he heard him call. Then, the blankets were pulled away from the bed and the calls grew more desperate. “Keith?”

The younger boy emerged from under the bed to Shiro’s great shock.

 

“Were you sleeping under there?”

 

Keith nodded. In a new ‘home’ he’d always spend the first nights beneath the bed. It was safer, after all one never knew what to expect and Keith hated surprises.

 

“Why? And why are you still in your clothes? Do you have no PJs? I could’ve lent you some.”

 

The younger boy shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

 

“Okay… Well, if this makes you feel better. Maybe we can get you a mattress under there.”

 

That was… surprising. Keith had expected a lot of things but not this. Well, it was probably part of the game too. “That won’t be necessary, I think.” Since Shiro knew where he was sleeping, there was no point in doing it again.

 

“Okay, then do you want me to take you out shopping today?”

 

“I don’t need anything.”, Keith insisted.

 

„Not even some clothes? In your bag there can’t be much to put on.”

 

“I got along before.”, he shrugged hoping Shiro would let it drop.

 

“Okay, well, why don’t we talk about this during breakfast? I already prepared everything downstairs.”, the older boy suggested remembering what he’d come for in the first place. “I hope you’re hungry.”

 

Keith couldn’t remember when he’d actually eaten three meals a day, but today he did. Surprisingly, Shiro really managed to get him to agree to a few items he could get him and after Lunch they drove into the city together. He kept being cautious and suspicious around the older boy but eventually he somehow came to actually like Shiro’s presence. He was a nice dude; friendly, considerate, funny. Keith kept telling himself not to fall for it but inside of him the wish grew that the older boy really was like this and there were no ulterior motives behind his doings.

 

By the end of the day, Keith was exhausted like he hadn’t been in a long time. Still, it was a good feeling. Somehow satisfying. For the first time in weeks, he felt like he could go straight to sleep without being awoken by nightmares. They’d bought a few things Shiro had thought of as necessary like clothes, shoes, a smartphone, a lamp for his desk and stuff like that. He’d also promised to organize a used laptop or PC since Keith had refused to let him buy a new one.      

 

„You tired, buddy?“, Shiro asked smiling when Keith couldn’t suppress a yawn. “It was a long day.”

 

The younger boy wanted to deny how exhausted he felt but Shiro seemed to see right through him anyway, so he shrugged.

 

“Do you want something specific for dinner?”

 

Keith yawned again. “Do you mind if I skip dinner? I just wanna go to sleep.”

“No, just go get some rest.”, he couldn’t help but smile fondly after Keith who went upstairs yawning. “Sleep well!”  If he wasn’t mistaken they’d made a big step into the right direction today. It would still take a lot of time but it seemed like Keith was slowly starting to trust him. He’d actually found out a few things about his little brother this afternoon like how obsessed he was with hippos for example. Not that he’d told him so but he’d learned to read things like this from the small remarks he made and the look in his eyes.

 

He made himself a sandwich and watched telly for a little thinking about today’s events. It had been fun despite the younger boy’s reservation. He had actually caught a glimpse of the guy Keith probably used to be before he’d come into foster care. The thought of young innocent Keith having to go through the abuse all on his own thinking that no one cared about him physically hurt Shiro. Why had no one informed them about the existence of his brother before? Yes, he had been a kid too back then but not so his Dad. He’d not always been perfect but he’d done his best. He would’ve been a good Dad to Keith. If Shiro was honest, he had to admit that his Dad would know a lot better what Keith needed right now than him.

 

Sighing, he sipped on his water staring at the TV absently. Dad wasn’t here, but he was. And he would do everything to help Keith. Maybe he would get to see more of the real Keith as time went by. At least, he hoped so. Keith was a great guy and he was worth fighting for.

 

After another hour, he went upstairs too. He was just about to head straight for his bed as he heard whimpering from Keith’s room. Frowning he stepped closer pushing the door to his brother’s room open. “Keith?”, he whispered peeking into the dark room. Moonlight fell in through the window falling onto the sleeping boy’s face and a silver tear glimmering in the cold light ran down his cheek. He was whimpering and squirming and Shiro realized immediately that his brother was caught in a horrible nightmare.

 

He hesitated to wake him but when the whining intensified and one tear after the other got lost into the sheets, he gently shook his shoulder calling his name. “Keith! You gotta wake up, buddy!” he shook him a little harder.

 

At once, Keith’s eyelids fluttered open and he sat up panting. He looked around confused and disoriented until his gaze was caught by Shiro and he scrambled away from him, the realization he wasn’t alone hitting him hard.

 

“Hey hey! Calm down, buddy!”, Shiro tried to sooth him as the younger one jerked away from him violently. Tears kept rolling down his cheeks but Keith wiped them away quickly and suddenly Shiro felt the urge to brush them away himself and then pull him into a tight hug. He wasn’t an idiot though. It was obvious it would freak Keith out even more. “It’s over now! It was only a bad dream, kiddo, I promise no one’s going to hurt you!”, he continued speaking since Keith still looked terrified und uneasy.

 

“Sorry for waking you.”, Keith croaked. Shiro couldn’t remember ever having heard such an insecure broken voice as his little brother’s in that very minute. “I’m okay now, you can go.”

 

Shiro didn’t want to leave. It was obvious Keith needed someone right now. “Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t asleep yet anyway. Do you want to tell me about your dream?”, he sat down on the edge of the bed.

 

Keith cowered in on himself shaking his head. “No. Just leave please!”, he begged burying his head into his knees.

 

“Okay. But don’t hesitate to come over and wake me up if you change your mind.” Shiro didn’t like leaving  Keith while he was like this but he didn’t want to force himself on him either. He had to respect the younger boy’s boundaries. Sighing, he stood up. “Shall I leave the door ajar?”, he asked remembering that his Dad used to do this for him when he was afraid of the dark after a nightmare.

 

Keith had rolled in on himself facing the wall. Barely perceptible, he nodded after hesitating for a few seconds.

 

“Okay. Sleep well!”

 

Keith barely got any sleep this night. After the incident he stayed awake for the rest of the night. Mainly, because he knew from experience it was almost impossible for him to go back to sleep after a nightmare anytime soon. Furthermore, he didn’t want to wake up Shiro in case he had another dream. Though the older boy had been really nice about it, he didn’t know how he would react if he actually woke him up. In the wee hours of the morning, he finally nodded off.

 

Keith expected Shiro to wake him up like he had done yesterday but when his eyelids fluttered open a few hours later, he was alone in his room. A glass of water that hadn’t been there already yesterday, stood next to him on the nightstand. He glanced at the clock on the opposite of the wall. It was already past 10 O’clock. Keith gulped down the water before he made the attempt to stand up.

 

Shiro chose this very moment to enter with a tablet in his hands. “Good morning, Keith. Sorry, I would’ve knocked but I thought you were still asleep and didn’t mean to wake you.”

 

“…Good morning?”

 

“I made breakfast. Did you get enough sleep cause you kinda don’t look like it.”

 

“Sure, I’m good.”, Keith lied.

 

“So, what do you want to do today?”

 

The younger boy shrugged a little confused by Shiro’s behavior. “Don’t care.” Wasn’t he supposed to be mad at him because of last night? Shouldn’t he yell at him for sleeping in? Instead he got to have breakfast in bed.

 

“You should eat. You skipped dinner last night after all. I used soy milk for them, so you don’t have to worry about the lactose.”, Shiro sat down at the edge of the bed encouraging Keith to eat the pancakes he’d made “A friend of mine wanted to come over later to get to know you, by the way. His name’s Matt.”

 

Keith swallowed. A friend that wanted to get to know him was never a good thing. He wasn’t sure what he could take anymore after the last few months.

 

“Keith? You okay? You’re shivering.”

 

“Sure. Just a little cold in here.”, the younger boy mumbled.

 

„Oh, I’ll turn up the heating then. You should eat up and go back to sleep if you’re still tired.”, Shiro smiled patting his knee before he left.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back with chapter four! Have fun with Shiro intruducing Matt to Keith:)

Keith didn’t go back to sleep. When the doorbell rang a few hours later, he was a shivering mess. Whatever Shiro had planned it couldn’t be good. It never was.

He’d considered jumping out of the window. It wasn’t too high and he was quite experienced by now in falling. But he doubted he would come far and even if he got to the police station somehow, it wasn’t like Shiro had actually done something yet. Not that anyone would believe him, anyway.

 

Keith clenched his hands into fists as he heard Shiro call him. He gritted his teeth as he went downstairs. Not again. Whatever they tried, he wouldn’t let anything happen again.

 

“Hey, Keith. This is my best friend, Matt. He’s a mad scientist and completely crazy, but all in all he’s okay.”, Shiro introduced him with a grin.

 

Matt wasn’t exactly what Keith had expected. He didn’t look like a beefcake. Matt had a slim figure and long equally thin arms and legs. He was taller than him, but by far not as big as Shiro. His copper-colored hair was tousled and he was wearing nerd glasses.

 

But Keith knew better than to underestimate people.

 

“And Matt, this is my little brother, Keith.”

 

Matt grinned as he shook his hand enthusiastically. “Good to finally meet you! Shiro told me a lot about you. You can’t imagine how excited he has been this past few weeks! He loves playing big brother! Did he tell you about the one time he made me-?”

 

“Okay, that’s enough! You’re scaring him!”

 

„If he lives with you he’ll have to get used to that anyway.”, Matt stated winking at Keith.

 

Shiro rolled his eyes, “Don’t listen to him! I’m warning you, Matt if you have a bad influence on my little brother, I’ll-”

 

But again, he was interrupted. “See? He’s such a Dad! Just wait till you bring home your first girlfriend -or boyfriend and he’ll start giving you _that_ talk and tells you not to do anything you aren’t ready for and- ouch!”, Shiro had rammed his elbow into Matt’s side and smiled apologetically at Keith who looked at them a little distraught. But before he could do or say anything the other boy had already continued talking. “And did he tell you about Allura? Our Co-worker, he’s practically having a crush on since like forever! They’re flirting all the time but he refuses to acknowledge that she’s head over heels in love with him and would totally agree to a date! It’s so frustrating to watch them!”

 

“I- err… okay?”, Keith had no idea what to say. Like so often during the last days, he found himself in an unexpected situation he didn’t know how to deal with.

 

Shiro seemed to sense the younger boy’s confusion and ushered them all in the living room where he’d already prepared a pot of coffee, lemonade and some cookies. He sat down between Keith and Matt knowing his brother well enough by now to be sure, he wouldn’t feel very comfortable in the middle. Also, he’d taken notice of the fact, Keith preferred sitting close to the exit wherever they went. He wasn’t sure what to make of this but he was sure one day Keith would tell him more about his past and it would explain a lot of his behavior. Then, they could start to work on a solution but for now he had to be content with treating the symptoms and make him as comfortable as possible.

 

The next few hours went by relatively peaceful. They chatted a little – well, mainly it was Matt who talked and Keith mostly stayed silent. He still didn’t know what to think of Shiro’s friend and he wasn’t big on social conversation anyway.

 

Then, they watched a few movies – some nerd stuff Matt had been shocked to discover, Keith had never heard of and he claimed was essential to know.

 

In the early evening, Keith’s eyelids began to feel heavier and he started yawning. He hadn’t gotten much rest during the last night after all. Falling asleep wasn’t an option though. _Never show weakness in front of anybody,_ a small voice that had saved his life more often than he could count by now, screamed.

 

Still, his body wouldn’t listen to him. Around him it was warm and cozy and despite his suspicion towards Shiro and Matt, nothing indicated imminent danger. Of course, he knew this didn’t mean anything and appearances were deceiving. That didn’t keep his eyes from falling shut though.

 

Shiro had noticed Keith slowly losing his fight against the sleep and smiled. He thought about sending him off to bed but the younger boy looked so utterly peaceful and he didn’t want to miss a second of that sight. Still smiling, he grabbed a woolen blanket and tucked it carefully around his shoulders. To his great surprise Keith leaned into the touch in his semi-sleep and mumbled something incoherent. When he leaned towards him, head resting against his shoulder, Shiro pulled him closer thus Keith could fully lean onto his side. He tucked the younger boy’s head beneath his chin stroking the dark locks.

 

Matt gave him a knowing look and smirked as Shiro blushed.

 

“What? I don’t want him to get a stiff neck!”, he defended his actions but it was to no use. Matt knew he was basically a human Teddy bear (Matt’s choice of words, not his!) and he loved cuddling.

 

“Sure, you big softie!”, Matt grinned, “He seems like a nice guy. A bit reserved, but nice.”

 

“He is.”, Shiro sighed, “If I just knew how I could get through to him!”

 

“I think you’re closer than you think.”, he pointed at the younger boy who had cuddled into his friend’s chest, “He wouldn’t have fallen asleep on you like this if he didn’t like you.”

 

“But he always looks at me like I’m going to turn into a seven headed monster any moment!”

 

Matt shrugged. “He’s suspicious. You gotta earn his trust and this’ll take time.”

 

“How was it with Pidge? I mean you’re her older brother and she trusts you, right?”

 

“Yes, but we grew up together. I never had to actually do anything to earn her trust.”

 

“So, you think growing up with somebody makes you love them automatically.”, In this case he was fucked.

 

The younger boy sighed, “I think if you spend that much time with someone, you either start to love or hate them. Katie is my little sister and I love her. I’d do anything for her and she knows that. What about Keith? Does he know how important he is to you?”

 

Shiro shrugged, “I don’t know. I mean you saw him. He isn’t big on talking and I doubt he would believe me.”

 

“Well, you have to prove it then. Take your time. Be there for him when he needs you and even when he doesn’t. You can’t do much else right now until the time comes and you get the chance to prove yourself.”

 

“You sound very wise.”, Shiro commented smiling.

 

“Shut up, old man!”

 

“Who are you calling ‘old man’?” Normally, Shiro would’ve thrown a pillow at Matt’s head but with Keith sleeping on him like this, he didn’t dare to move. Gently, he stroked the younger boy’s hair before he looked up again. “Does Katie get nightmares sometimes?”

 

Matt shrugged, “Sure. Everyone does. Why do you ask?”

 

“Because Keith had one last night. I wanted to comfort him but he wouldn’t let me. What do you do when Pidge has a bad dream? Does she come to you?”

 

“When we were younger, she would crawl in bed with me because she was afraid of the dark.”

 

“And now?”, Shiro asked.

 

“I guess she thinks she’s too old for it now and has to deal with them on her own. You can’t do anything but offer comfort or talk with him about it. He’ll come to you when he’s ready for it.”

 

Shiro smiled. He was grateful for the possibility to express his thoughts and fears and especially to someone like Matt who understood what it meant to be a big brother. Keith nuzzled into his chest still deeply asleep and Shiro couldn’t help but smile at the younger boy. Relaxation was a good look on him.

 

“Well, I better be going now! It’s getting late and you probably want to get him into bed.”, Matt said and stood up.

 

“Okay. I call you or we see us at work on Monday. Thank you for coming over.”

 

“Of course. Take care of him and tell me if you need anything!” Matt nodded at the couple on the couch before he left.

 

Shiro stayed for another few minutes in front of the TV. He liked being that close to Keith and that he was able to coddle him. He felt like he had to catch up on a lot of physical affection.

Finally, Shiro wrapped the younger boy into the blanket and raised him up. He carried him upstairs carefully where he laid him down onto the bed. Should he open his belt? It might be uncomfortable to sleep in it. On the other hand, he had no idea how Keith would react if he noticed int the morning.

 

Sighing, he decided against it and covered him with the sheets remembering Keith had felt cold this morning. He stayed a little longer stroking the younger boy’s ridiculously soft hair. “Good night, buddy. Sleep well!”, he whispered affectionately before he stood up, switched off the light and quietly closed the door behind him.

 


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you again for your nice Feedback! You lot are so amazing, honestly <3 I hope you'll enjoy chapter Five and leave me another comment:)

The rest of the week went by relatively uneventfully. Shiro gave Keith more space than the older one actually liked to and the dark haired boy spend most of his time in his room reading. He still wasn’t talking much and kept eyeing Shiro suspiciously every now and then. Shiro knew Keith needed time and he had to be patient. Yet, he wished there was anything he could do to help him.

 

When Monday came -Keith’s first day at the new school- Shiro was way more nervous than his brother. What if Keith wasn’t ready for this, yet? Being around a larger group of people had always made him nervous and uncomfortable so far and Shiro was pretty sure Keith had a posttraumatic stress disorder. The nightmares, his impulsive behavior, the jumpiness and the dull glance in between these, gave him away. And Shiro knew what he was talking about. The accident had left his marks on him too.

 

He was worried if Keith could deal with the huge amount of people and what would happen if he couldn’t? What if this made him retreat even further? What if the other students teased him? After all, kids were mean and Keith was going to be the new one and he didn’t fit in either from what he could say so far. And if he got in trouble, would he even tell him? Probably not. He sighed, “Do you need another week? You don’t have to start school just yet.”

 

Keith shrugged, “Why? I’ll be fine.” It was true, he didn’t particularly liked school but every so often he found that it was the better option to stay in school than at his current home.

 

“Okay. But call me if you get into trouble or you need anything. I’ll pick you up from school after I’m done with work. I spoke with my boss and rearranged my shifts so that you don’t have to be alone the whole afternoon.”

 

The younger boy nodded. “You know, I can take the bus.”

 

“It’s okay, buddy, it’s no trouble at all.”, he smiled. “Do you have everything? Ready to go?”

 

The ride took only about ten minutes. Shiro parked in front of the school. “Have a nice day!”, he told him and looked after Keith as he made his way inside the building.

 

“Shiro! Nice to see you, lad! Come on, you need to tell us everything! How is he? Is he nice? What does he look like? When can we meet him?”, he was greeted by his excited boss a few minutes later.

 

“Let the poor guy breath!”, Allura came to his rescue smiling at him, “Hi, Shiro.”, she pulled him in for a hug.

 

“Put us out of our misery and tell us about your brother!”, Coran pressed jumping up and down in excitement.

 

“Okay, okay!”, Shiro gave in, “So, he’s really precious. He’s quiet and nice and he always has a book in his hands.”

 

“Awww!”, Allura squealed.

 

“Unfortunately,”, Shiro sighed, “I don’t know what the people he lived with before did to him but it has to be pretty bad. I’m still working on getting him to trust me. He’s shying away from my touch and he’s having nightmares.”

 

“Oh no! Poor guy! Is there anything we can do to help?”, Allura exclaimed.

 

“I don’t think so but thank you for your offer. He might need some friends though when he’s ready to talk about everything. I don’t want him to rely on me alone.”

 

“You can count on us!”, Coran promised and Allura nodded in agreement.

 

“Thank you. If you want to, you can visit us this week. I don’t want to bring him here yet. He doesn’t do well with public places and crowds.”

 

“Understandable.”, Coran nodded.

 

“Hey, guys! Shouldn’t you be working right now?”, Matt passed them grinning.

 

“Hey, don’t forget who’s the boss here, young man!”, Coran called after him. “He’s right though. Our clients are waiting.”

 

“Okay. Let’s talk after work.”

\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

“How was your first day at school?”, Shiro asked when Keith entered the car.

 

“Okay.” He shrugged.

 

“What about your classmates?”

 

“Okay.”

 

“And your teachers?”, Shiro asked already knowing the answer.

 

“Okay.”

 

“Okay.”, the older boy smiled. “You hungry?”

 

Keith hesitated then nodded. 

 

„Good, me too. Do you like Burger? We can stop by at a place I know.”, Shiro suggested, “If you want to you can tell me about your day then.”

 

“Sure. There’s nothing much to tell though.” School was _okay_. Nothing more and nothing less. It was loud and crowded but there was definitely worse. Outside lesson, he hadn’t talked to anybody and the breaks he’d spend in the library where it was relatively quiet and he was surrounded by books. He wouldn’t want to have it any other way.

 

They stopped at a small but comfortable looking diner. They ordered take out since Shiro sensed Keith’s exhaustion thus they could eat at home.

 

“Keith? Can I ask you something?”, Shiro spoke up.

 

“I guess.”, he looked at him suspiciously.

 

“Do you need help?”, he swallowed, “I mean, I don’t know what happened to you before you came to me but I do know that you have problems. If you need someone to talk about anything, you can come to me. Or we’ll find somebody for you.”

 

“A couch doctor? No thanks!”, Keith snorted, “I’m fine.”

 

“It’s not a shame to need help from time to time, you know that, right?”

 

Keith’s hands clenched into fists telling Shiro he’d hit a nerve there. “I-I should go. I have to do my homework.” He said standing up.

 

“No, Keith. Stay, please! I didn’t mean to upset you.”

 

“You didn’t.”, the younger boy bit his lip keeping his eyes firmly locked at his hands, “I just have homework to do.”, he said turning around and went upstairs into his room quickly.

 

Okay, that didn’t go well. Shiro sighed. He wished he could do something to stop him from retreating. Something that would break the ice and make him see that he could actually trust him. _Patience yields focus_!, he told himself again and again but it was so hard to witness Keith’s pain. It physically hurt to see him like this and not be able to do anything! And Shiro knew what PTSD could do to one. He honestly had no idea what he would’ve done if he would’ve been completely on his own after he’d lost not only his arm but also his Dad. Of course, Keith wasn’t alone either but he didn’t know this. Not yet, at least.

 

It didn’t matter that not even five weeks ago, he hadn’t even known that he had a brother. He loved Keith. They were a family and he would do pretty much everything for him. Shiro wasn’t sure if it was his big brother instinct that told him he was responsible for the younger boy or if it was simply him being an empathic human being that couldn’t stand to see an innocent child suffer. Whatever it was, it was strong.

 

When he looked at Keith he saw a scared little boy, left by everyone he’d ever loved and who’d been supposed to love him back. A kid that had experienced nothing but violence, pain and ignorance during his short live. Keith was lost and confused and angry. He needed help. If he would let someone get through to him, he had lots of potential. Shiro could see that too. He was strong and intelligent and brave. If he only received the help he needed so badly…

 

Sighing anew, he began to do the dishes. Like ever so often, he recalled that he couldn’t force Keith to tell him about the past and just trust him.

 

Shiro tried to talk to Keith again during the next few days but every time, Keith blocked up completely. He didn’t find out much else about him either. Only that he wasn’t a fan of the genres romance and comedy, or better the combination of the two. And that he liked knives- Whatever that meant. Most of the things he learned by little remarks Keith’s made or the hint of a smile that was to see when someone talked about something he liked. He didn’t know what to do with this information and the like but it was better than nothing.

 

Keith didn’t talk much about school either. To make sure everything was okay, he called his class teacher and his counselor. Since he’d been on the same school, he knew new students had to visit the counselor at least once during their first days. He didn’t want to spy on Keith and only asked questions in general. What he got to hear weren’t great news but not really surprising. Apparently, Keith didn’t talk to the other pupils if he didn’t necessarily have to. He kept to himself and his books. Still, according to the teachers, Keith was exceptionally smart and did pretty well so far. But him being the new one and not even trying to fit in made him an easy target and he was easy to provoke. So far it hadn’t come to any serious fights but that was only a question of time.

 

Allura and Coran had come by a few days later. There had been a lot of high-pitched screeching and cooing and Allura had been just as bad. Keith had been utterly confused and distraught at the squealing but when the two had calmed down eventually, he’d relaxed a little too. This night, Keith had another nightmare. The screaming woke Shiro up at three O’clock in morning. He ran into his brother’s room where he found him tangled in the sheets kicking and yelling and crying. Shiro pulled him onto his lap shaking him awake and whispering soothingly into his ear. But as soon as he came to himself, he flinched away from the older boy rolling in on himself hiding from Shiro.

The next morning, Keith looked like shit with huge dark bags beneath his eyes and his skin even paler than usually. Shiro didn’t want to send him to school knowing the younger boy probably hadn’t fallen asleep. But Keith looked at him threatening daring him to say something, so he kept silent.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Thanks for the comments and enjoy the next chapter!

Later that day, he would come to regret his decision to let him go to school when the school called. Keith had gotten into a fight with another boy. “Coran, this was Keith’s school. He’s in trouble and I have to pick him up.”, he explained his boss.

 

“Sure, go! I guess he needs you more than us right now.”

 

“Thanks, I promise I’ll hurry!”, Shiro threw over his jacket.

 

“Rubbish! I don’t want to see you here again until tomorrow! Your shift’s almost over anyway.”

 

“Thank you, Coran! You’re the best!”, he called over his shoulder before the door fell shut behind him and he jumped into his car.

 

Ten minutes later, he parked in front of Keith’s school running into the building. He really hoped Keith wasn’t hurt. He shouldn’t have let him go to school today. Impatiently, he knocked at the counselor’s door. Ever since the school got a new director it was Mr. Kolivan who was responsible for fights and conflicts. Shiro was grateful, director Iverson wasn’t at the school anymore. Otherwise, Keith would really be in trouble right now.

 

“Come in!”

 

Shiro still knew Kolivan from his time at school. He was a nice guy, serious but fair. “Is Keith okay?”

 

“Hallo, Takashi. Or shall I call you Mr. Shirogane now?”

 

“Shiro’s fine. What’s with Keith?”

 

“He’s okay. Only got a split lip. Why don’t you sit down?”, the teacher asked pointing at the chairs in front of his desk.

 

“Is he in trouble? What happened?”, Shiro relaxed a little now that he knew Keith wasn’t seriously hurt.

 

“No, don’t worry. Apparently, another boy teased him and things got a little out of hand. I don’t know who hit whom first, I’m not even sure if they actually know it themselves actually. We parted them before anything serious happened.”

 

 _Thank god!_ Shiro sighed in relive. This would really be the last thing they needed right now. But why was he here when Keith wasn’t hurt or in trouble? “Where is he now? Can I talk to him?”

 

“He’s waiting in the infirmary. Shiro… the reason I called is that I’m worried about Keith. He’s reserved to say the least. And when the nurse asked him to take off his shirt after he got hit in the stomach, she saw the scars.”, Kolivan had always been a serious man but the severe look he gave him right now made him gasp the gravity of the situation.

 

“What scars?”

 

“You don’t know about them? It shouldn’t surprise me, honestly. Haggar told me he refused to undress at first, only when she brought up calling you to bring him to the hospital he gave in.”, he sighed, “Shiro, I saw the scars myself. You know I was in the army and I have seen a lot of injuries so I can tell you these scars weren’t caused by some accident or anything! I know it wasn’t you who did this. The newest injuries were at least a month old, but-“

 

“Wait! _Injuries_? Not marks?”, Shiro’s stomach dropped. Yes, he had known Keith had been abused by one of his former foster families, maybe even by more than one of them but this sounded like more than a man who got a little rough at times or a Mum who thought spanking was a good alternative to actual parenting. Not that he thought this was okay either. Not at all! But it was something different than actually _leaving scars_. And injuries meant it had happened again recently.

 

„Mainly bruises and scratches. They’re faded but still visible. Shiro, I know you. You’re a good man and when I met Sam Holt the other day he told me about you unhesitatingly adopting your kid brother you didn’t even know about a few weeks ago, let’s just say I wasn’t surprised at all by what you did. You’ll be great at being a father or a brother or whatever you plan on being to him but right now this boy needs your help! I don’t know what he went through and I doubt you know it either but whatever it is it’s still affecting him and if he doesn’t have somebody he can trust, it will stay that way.”

 

Shiro sighed, “I know and I’m doing my best! I really do! I just don’t know how to get through to him. It seems like no matter what I say he’s assuming a trick behind it and so far, I couldn’t convince him otherwise.”

 

“I know it won’t be easy and you’re doing your best. Just know that you can’t give up on him now. I’m not sure what’ll happen if you too give up on him.”

 

“I’m not planning on giving up on him.”, Shiro stated, “He’s my brother.”

 

“Good. If you want to you can take him home now. School’s almost out anyway and it’ll be better to separate Keith and Lance for the rest of the day.”

 

“Lance? He had a fight with Lance?”, Shiro knew the Cuban boy. He was a nice guy, a little annoying and a pain in the ass a times, but cool. He was hanging out with Pidge a lot who in turn spend much time with her brother and his friends. That was how they’d met. He’d thought about introducing Keith to him before he’d actually met him for the first time. He had been sure Lance would be too overwhelming to Keith, especially after he’d seen him react to his other friends who were less intrusive. Obviously, he had been right.

 

“Yes, Lance McClain. And he’s probably a little pissed off right now. Keith beat his ass.”

 

He hadn’t expected anything less. As he went down the corridor, he saw Lance coming towards them with Pidge and another friend of them, Hunk in tow. He looked angry and Shiro could already hear him curse from afar.

 

“Lance?”

“Shiro? What are you doing here? “, he asked in surprise stopping dead in his tracks.

 

“I’m here because of Keith.”

 

“Keith? That freak that hit me in the eye?”, he pointed at his slightly swollen bluish eye. “Why?!”

 

“That freak’s my brother.”

 

“What?!”

 

“That’s what I tried to tell you the whole time, dumbass!”, Pidge said when she and Hunk finally caught up with them.

 

“That’s the guy Matt told us about? Your cute reserved little brother is the same hot head who punched me?”, Lance couldn’t believe it.

 

“Come on, You’re not exactly an angel either, Lance!”, Hunk interfered.

 

“You were pretty mean!”, Pidge agreed.

 

“No, I wasn’t- okay, maybe a little.”, when Lance thought about it- oh fuck! “Oh god! I called him a momma’s boy! Fuck! I’m so sorry! If I would’ve known he’s an orphan…!”

 

Shiro sighed. _Oh Lance_! He knew the Cuban boy hadn’t meant it, but Keith probably didn’t. How could he? To him Lance was a complete stranger. He didn’t know about his insecurities that made him this competing and neither was he aware of the fact that Lance was one of seven children and always had to fight for attention. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt anybody.”

 

“I’ve got to apologize to him! Is there anything I can do to make up for it?”, Lance didn’t even want to imagine how he would feel if his parents died and he lost his whole family.

 

“I don’t think so. I want to talk to him alone right now but would you do me a favor?”

 

“Of course!”

 

“Would you maybe keep an eye on Keith? I’m worried about him. He might get into serious trouble if he starts a fight with the wrong guy.”, Shiro couldn’t believe he was asking Lance for this. But what other choice did he have?

 

“You want me to spy on your brother? Sure thing! I only hope he doesn’t break my nose if he finds out.”

 

Pidge groaned. “You just shot yourself in the foot, Shiro!”

 

“Shut up, gremlin!”, Lance blushed.

 

“He has a giant crush on your brother! The last few days all he talked about was how cute he is and how hot his mullet looks and-“

 

“That’s not true! Don’t listen to them! I would never talk about your little brother like that! Please don’t kill me, I won’t do it again!”, Lance rambled.

 

“Calm down!”, Shiro didn’t know what to think of this. It wasn’t like he would mind Lance going out with Keith, he just doubted Keith was interested in dates.

 

“You don’t mind?”

 

Shiro shook his head. “Just don’t get your hopes on too much. I don’t even know if he’s gay.”

 

“Don’t worry. That’s how it goes with most of Lance’s love interests.”, Hunk smiled patting his friends back.

 

“Well, I better go now. I gotta talk to Keith. Just keep an eye on him and call me if he needs help!”

 

“Okay, will do!”, Lance called after him.

 

Shiro wasn’t sure if it had been smart to set the guy who had just admitted to have a crush on his brother and gotten into a fist fight with him on the same day on said boy. When he finally reached the infirmary, Haggar the school nurse was just about to close the door behind her.

 

“Watch out! That little bastard is dangerous!”, she grumbled. Shiro clenched his hands into fists. He had never liked her. She was the meanest woman he’d ever met and had no caring bone inside her body, that was a fact!

 

“Keith?”, he entered quietly.

 

“I told them not to call you.”, Keith sat on the surgery couch not looking up from his hands buried into the firm fabric of the couch. Shiro could see his jaw clenched tightly and something told him it wasn’t from the pain his split lip caused him. He sat down next to him.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

He nodded.

 

The lip didn’t look too bad and from what he could see there were no other injuries. Lance never stroke to him as the fighter type anyway. What worried him much more was the way Keith had tensed up next to him like he was expecting to be hit or screamed at any minute. “You aren’t in trouble.”, he stated.

 

Keith looked up at him in surprise  before he went back to staring at his hands.

 

“Lance told me what happened.”, Shiro sighed, “I’m sorry for what he said about your Mum.”

 

Keith shrugged. “Lance?”

 

“The guy you fought with. He can be a bit of a dick at times but actually he’s pretty okay once you get to know him, at least. He’s sorry for what he said. He didn’t know about Krolia.”, Like pretty much always, Shiro had no idea what to say to Keith. He wished he’d know what was going on in his head right now. Hesitantly, he laid his hand on the younger boy’s shoulder who flinched back immediately. “It’s okay. I’m not mad at you.”

 

When Keith kept silent he just sighed anew. “Come on, we can talk about this later. Let’s get you home now!”

 

“What about-“

 

“Kolivan said I could take you home and my shift is almost over anyway.”

 

Keith bit his lip.

 

“You sure you are okay? Do you need my help to get off the couch?” Shiro had never understood why they had to make this treatment couch this high. Sure, most of the kids were taller than his small 15 year old brother but still. If Keith had been hit on the head he might have a headache and jumping would hurt him. But Keith negated hopping off the table. Shiro caught him when he swayed slightly and looked at him worriedly.

 

Keith couldn’t say he hadn’t seen it coming. It was honestly a miracle he had gotten into a fight until now. And of course the school would call Shiro. After all they had to somehow acknowledge his misbehavior.

 

So far, Shiro hadn’t done anything that gave his true nature away. He hadn’t screamed at him or punched him or touched him in a way that wasn’t appropriate but at some point, his patience had to snap. Shiro was probably only waiting for them to get home.

 

Usually, he was actually kind of relieved when someone showed their real face but Shiro had been so nice to him he didn’t want it to end. He knew it had been stupid to hope even if only for a moment but it simply had been too alluring! He should’ve known he’d have to pay the price in the end.

 

During the ride home silence dominated the car. Shiro didn’t know what to say to make the younger boy open up to him. When they finally arrived, Keith followed him slowly into the house. He wanted to speak with Keith but the younger one looked so tensed and exhausted, he dismissed him with a sigh. “Why don’t you lay down for a little. You look tired. I call you when dinner’s ready and then we can talk.”, he squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

 

Keith looked at him in surprise, “Shouldn’t you-“, he interrupted himself when he realized what he had been about to ask.

 

“Shouldn’t I be what?”, Shiro frowned.

 

“Nothing.”

 

“Did you think I would be mad?”

 

Keith shrugged looking down.

 

The older boy knelt down in front of him forcing him to look him in the eye. “I’m not mad at you, buddy! I’m only worried. I know you went through a lot and can’t trust me yet but I swear I simply want to help you.”, Keith didn’t look like he was completely convinced yet so Shiro sighed ruffling his hair, “It’s okay. Take as much time as you need. Now get some sleep, kiddo!”

 

Nodding he went upstairs crawling beneath the covers closing his eyes. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he’d fallen asleep.

 

They talked about the incident later that day. Well, Shiro did most of the talking while Keith mainly stuck to listening. He told Keith to be careful and try not to act too impulsively in the future. He also begged Keith to give Lance a chance and do his best not to get into trouble. Like usually, the younger boy didn’t say much. He stuck to nodding and shaking his head which frustrated Shiro a little. He wished Keith would let loose for once! Still, in the end the dark haired boy smiled at him and he felt like they’d made a step into the right direction today.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys Ready for some sick!Keith?

Everything went down when Keith came down with the flu. He had been a little under the weather all week but when he came home after a walk completely soaked from the rain Shiro began to worry. Despite the cold Keith’s cheeks were a little flushed and he was sniffling and coughing all over the place.

 

“You’ll catch your death! Get into something dry and warm!”, Shiro ordered the moment Keith entered the house.

 

Keith croaked something that reminded of an “okay” before he went upstairs.

 

Apart from the coughing, Shiro didn’t hear anything from him the rest of the evening. Before he went to bed he got out a box of tissues, some cough syrup and a thermometer to be prepared in the morning.

 

So far, he had let Keith push through this illness even though he’d known about him not feeling well. Now he regretted his decision. But Keith hadn’t mentioned coming down with something and Shiro hadn’t wanted to look like an overly concerned mother hen. Nevertheless, he should’ve said something.

 

The next morning, Shiro could barely believe his eyes when Keith came downstairs to eat breakfast like every day. He looked absolutely horrible. He shivered in his short-sleeved Shirt and his skin was ashen apart from the deep flush coloring his cheeks. These clothes were way too thin! His glassy eyes were completely unfocused and he swayed dangerously as he made his way towards the table.

 

“Morning.”, he murmured with his voice clearly gone. He tried to sit down almost missing the chair.

 

Shiro only shook his head. “Back to bed with you!”

 

The younger boy froze. “What about school?”

 

“I call them and be with you in a minute! And get out of these clothes!”, Thinking about it, he shouldn’t have said that.

 

While Keith stumbled upstairs, Shiro got the things he’d prepared yesterday and called the school and his boss before he followed his younger brother.

 

Keith was sitting on the edge of the bed shivering. He was on the brink of a panic attack. Of course, he’d known it would eventually lead to this. It had been stupid that he’d begun to trust him. And yet Shiro had only waited for him to be enfeebled by illness. He should’ve known. Well, actually he had known there was something not quite kosher but it had been nice to hope if only for a moment. Now everything in front of his eyes was a blur and he doubted he would be able to defend himself whatever Shiro had planned.

 

Shiro found his younger brother shaking on the edge of the bed. Poor boy. He looked so disorientated and weak from the fever. “Hey, buddy.”, he knelt down in front of him pressing his flesh hand against his forehead, “You’re burning up! Do you need help undressing?” After all his clothes couldn’t be comfortable and he wanted to get him into something warm and cozy.

 

Keith was scared stiff. He didn’t dare to move completely paralyzed by fear.

 

“God, you’re shivering like an aspen leaf!”, he made a move to pull the Shirt over the younger boy’s head but he’d barely lifted the hem of the thin fabric as Keith scrambled away from him panicking. “Keith!”

 

Shiro watched him helplessly as the younger boy stumbled back against the wall shielding himself from him. What was happening? “Buddy?”, he approached him gently trying to pry his arms away from his face thus he could look him in the eye.

 

As soon as Shiro touched him, Keith started to scream and kick leaning heavily against the wall as the strength left his body. Past and present mingled inside his head until he couldn’t set them apart anymore. Oh god, it was happening again!

 

The older boy was slowly beginning to panic. What should he do? Keith was freaking out and he didn’t know how to react. Was it something he’d said or done? Did he maybe have some kind of flashback? A meltdown?

Keith obviously didn’t want to be touched right now and usually he would respect this but he was already sick and he couldn’t let him sit there on the cold ground while he kept powering himself out. “Hey, buddy.”, he tried to sound as calm as possible sitting down in front of him, “Shhh! It’s okay. Nobody’s going to hurt you, I promise.”

 

Slowly, Keith stopped screaming. Shiro was really relieved by that even though he wasn’t sure if it was only because he had run out of energy or because he actually calmed down. The smaller boy cowered in on himself making himself as small as possible. He hid his head behind his knees and arms as he started mumbling incoherent things between sobs. To his horror Shiro realized his brother had started to cry. The heart wrenching sobs made him want to reach out for the scared boy and pull him into his arms but he was afraid Keith might freak out again.

 

“Everything’s gonna be fine! I’m not going to let anyone hurt you again!”, he promised, “You have a very high temperature and it’s playing tricks on your mind, buddy.”

 

Keith actually seemed to relax a little more at hearing this. He was still whimpering though and tears and snot were running down his face.

 

“Will you let me help you get you back into bed now, kiddo? You should really lay down.”, he asked carefully.

 

Keith’s eyes were completely unfocused as he looked up nodding feebly.

 

Being as gentle as possible, Shiro raised the dark haired one from the ground. He doubted his brother would be able to stand up on his own even if he tried. Half carrying him, he let Keith stumble back to bed. “It’s okay you can let your Shirt on.”

 

With Keith’s arms and legs no longer covering his mouth and muffling his voice, he was finally able to hear what he was murmuring. “Not again… don’t touch me… Please, I don’t want this!” was what he could make out between the sniffling and the sobbing. Whoever did this to Keith would pay for it! Gradually, Shiro realized the younger boy hadn’t ‘only’ been beaten up by one of his former foster families but also sexually abused. Oh god! He felt like he was about to throw up! Swallowing down his nausea, he smiled gently at Keith as he got out a tissue cleaning his face and ordering him to blow. Keith was so out of it he didn’t think about it and let Shiro wipe his nose for him. “So cold…” he mumbled before he went into a painful coughing fit.

 

Shiro grabbed the blanket tucking him in. He knew he should take Keith’s temp or pour tea down his throat but right now he didn’t want to do anything that might upset him. “You’re gonna be fine. Just try to calm down a little.”

 

Keith had curled up on himself, his back facing the wall. He let his eyes flutter shut hoping Shiro wouldn’t use the chance to hurt him. But after all he’d had the opportunity to do this more often than he could count during the last few weeks.

 

He wasn’t sure if he’d actually dozed off but when he opened his eyes again, Shiro was still there smiling down reassuringly at him. “Hey, buddy.”, he heard him say. Keith wanted to reply, however as soon as he opened his mouth he began to cough. He could barely breath but felt too weak and languid to prop himself up.

 

“It’s okay. Here, let me help you?”, Shiro pulled him up patting his back gently.

 

“I’m sorry for…-“, he started not knowing how to continue.

 

“Don’t be! There’s nothing you should feel sorry for. We can talk about it later, for now I made you some tea.”

 

“Don’t you have to go to work?”, Keith mumbled still clearly out of it.

 

“Nope. Coran told me not to come back until you’re completely healthy again.”

 

“Ye don’t have te stay ‘cause of me.”

 

The older boy shook his head in disbelieve. “You bet! I’m not going to leave you.” How should he? He still had to measure his temperature but with a fever he couldn’t possibly leave Keith on his own! It would be a miracle if he didn’t have to take him to hospital. “Somebody has to take care of you.”

 

“I got along before.”

 

“Does that mean nobody took care of you when you were sick in the past?” This really shouldn’t surprise Shiro as much as it did. Still the thought of his little brother being all sick and weak and helpless and nobody caring did something to him. He clenched his hands into fists.

 

Keith had always been a sickly kid and since he usually pushed through illnesses, he’d often get crazy high fevers. So, feeling miserable like this wasn’t exactly new to him. Shiro on the other hand didn’t know this. Did he actually worry about him?, he wondered. It almost seemed like that. But maybe he was only a good actor. Keith sighed. He felt absolutely horrible and didn’t want to have to rack his brain about this as well right now.

 

“What about Mum? Did she never-?”

 

Keith snorted. “You don’t remember much about her, do you?”

 

“Not really.” He had been six when she left after all. Had she taken care of him when he’d been sick? He couldn’t recall such an occurrence. “Well, but you have me now! I’m going to take care of you.”

 

Keith looked at him incredulously, then bent down with a sudden sneeze.

 

Shiro smiled at the kitten like sound. “Bless you.”

 

But Keith wasn’t done yet. The older boy got a tissue ready as Keith kept sneezing and pressed it in front of his twitching nostrils. “You good?”, he asked when the fit finally stopped.

 

He nodded grateful for the fact Shiro didn’t make fun of him for having kitten sneezes. Sighing he blew his nose and let himself fall back into the pillows. Why hadn’t Shiro said anything about his freak-out yet? Not that he wanted to talk about it. In fact, he didn’t even want to think about this incident, but it was weird Shiro hadn’t addressed this topic so far. From what he knew about the older boy this was very out of character for him.

 

“Are you having the chills?”, Shiro spoke up.

 

Keith hadn’t even noticed he’d started shaking that violently. Yes, he felt cold but until right now he hadn’t realized just how cold he really was. His teeth were chattering and he wrapped the blanket tightly around his shoulders. Without success. “C-co-cold.”

 

 _Shit_! “Okay, wait here! I’ll be right back!” Shiro hurried into the bathroom turning on the water of their bathtub. He knew it would probably make his fever rise but he would care about that later. Now he had to make his chills stop.

 

Keith was still shivering like crazy when Shiro reentered the room. “I’ll get you into the bathroom and into a hot bath. That should stop the chills.” He grabbed Keith and lifted him up from the bed without thinking much of it.

 

“L-let me-e d-d-down! I c-can walk b-b-by mys-myself!”, They’d already reached the door by the time Keith had gotten out the last sentence. Usually he would put up more of a fight but right now he was physically not able to.

 

“You can barely talk let alone stand or walk, buddy.”, Shiro stated patiently. Keith was way too light in his arms for his taste. Still, with his muscles cramping like this it wasn’t easy to hold the younger boy down. The bathtub was already half filled when they entered the room. He pulled back the blanket he’d wrapped Keith up in. “You err- you can keep your clothes on.”, he said remembering how the younger one had reacted when he’d tried to undress him the last time.

 

Fortunately, Keith’s cheeks were already flushed from the fever, otherwise Shiro would’ve been able to see him blushing very hard right now. Carefully, the older boy let him slide down into the warm water making him feel better immediately. He sighed contently closing his eyes. Shiro stroked back his sweaty bangs smiling at him.

 

“Better?”, he sounded relieved.

 

Keith nodded.

 

The older boy was about to say something as the doorbell rang. He pondered about going downstairs. Would it be good to leave him alone right now? But he couldn’t stay 24 hours per day by his side though. That would come over as creepy and clingy and he didn’t want Keith to think of him as pushy. And ultimately, he also wanted to know who was at the door. “I’ll be right back.”, he said standing up and leaving Keith on his own.

 

The shivering had stopped and Keith got aware of the uncomfortable feeling of his tight jeans sticking to his legs. Furthermore, the steam made his nose run and he could already feel another sneezing fit coming on. He wriggled his nose to make the itch go away. At least no one was there this time as he sneezed into cupped hands. _God!_ , he thought after the sixth sneeze, he really needed a tissue to blow his nose into! Otherwise he’d never stop.

 

He was feeling better so standing up should be no problem, right? Wrong. As soon as Keith rose dizziness overcame him and dark spots danced in front of his eyes. He had just enough time to realize this had been a mistake when he felt himself slipping away losing consciousness. Everything around him was dark as he hit the water. 

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, I woule've posted this sooner but school has beenhell this week and I barely slept at all. Anyway, like I promised I didn't kill Keith and brought Lance back into the game. Enjoy and commen;) <3

“Lance? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in school?”, Shiro looked at the Cuban boy in front of him in surprise.

 

“Skipped chemistry. Is boring without Keith anyway. Is it true? He’s sick?”

 

Shiro nodded, “The flu probably. You really shouldn’t skip classes though.”

 

“Yes, Dad!”, Lance rolled his eyes. But there was something off his appearance. He looked nervous, Shiro realized, he was playing with his fingers and tapping his feet. “How is the mullet?”

 

“Keith is having a pretty bad fever and he’s coughing and sneezing a lot but he’ll be okay so don’t worry about him.”, he answered.

 

“I’m not worried about him! Actually, I couldn’t care less about him! I mean yes, he’s kinda cute with his huge manga eyes and being so small in general but like I told Hunk and Pidge already, that doesn’t mean anything I- Can I see him?”, Lance interrupted his ramblings looking up at Shiro.

 

He wished he could let him go up to Keith but he knew that would be a bad idea right now. His brother was so vulnerable at the moment and surely wouldn’t appreciate visitors while he was feeling this miserable. “Actually, he was having chills so I put him into a hot bath. You see he’s a little indisposed right now.”

 

“Oh. Sure. I’ll come back later. Hunk and I will make some chicken soup for him. Call me when he’s not- well, naked anymore!”

 

“Will do.”, Shiro promished not bothering to correct the Cuban boy. “I’ll tell Keith how concerned you were!”, he winked.

 

“Don’t you dare! I’m not interested in the mullet in any way. My mother simply raised a polite boy!”

 

Shiro grinned as he closed the door behind his friend. It was good to know he wasn’t the only one who cared about Keith. Speaking of Keith, he should probably get the younger boy out of the tub before he died of hypertermia. On his way upstairs, he quickly grabbed a glass of orange juice for his brother. “Hey, Keith! You’ll never guess who-“ _Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck!_ “Fuck!”

 

The glass broke as it hit the floor. In a single bound Shiro was next to the tub pulling his unconscious brother out of the water. Fuck! He wasn’t breathing! Desperately he pressed his hands onto Keith’s chest shaking him. “Keith! Wake up!”

 

When Keith finally began to regain consciousness Shiro turned him onto his side thus he could cough out the water. “Thank god!” From the force of the coughing fit tears had sprung to the younger boy’s eyes. However, he wasn’t the only one whose eyes were wet. For once Shiro forgot his ‘accepting Keith’s boundaries’ policy and wrapped him into a tight hug as soon as he’d finally stopped coughing. “Hey, buddy, are you okay? What happened?”

 

“’M fine.”, he croaked, “Tried to stand up but got dizzy.” Immediately after he’d gotten out that sentence he went into another forceful coughing fit.

 

He should’ve told him not to stand up. Sighing Shiro stroked his wet hair holding him tight. Keith had begun shivering again, this time from the soaked clothes he was wearing. “Let’s get you back into bed and out of these.”

 

Keith tried to stand up before Shiro could stop him and stumbled right back into the older boy who caught him shaking his head disapprovingly. “Don’t worry, buddy, I’ve got you!” he lifted him up bridal style carrying him back into his room. “Stay here! Don’t move!”, he ordered after he sat him down onto the bed wrapping a towel around his shoulders quickly before he left to get some warm clothes from his own room.

 

For once Keith did as he was told feeling too weak to move. He was cold and everything was a blur. His head was swimming and dark spots were already dancing in front of his eyes again.

 

“Look, these should keep you warm!”, Shiro came back with one of his own sweaters and jogging pants. “I know you don’t feel comfortable with this but I doubt you get out of these by your own.”

 

Keith bit his lip. He knew Shiro was right and probably for the first time he wasn’t afraid of what the older boy might do to him. Maybe it was because of his fever or because he looked so genuinely worried that Keith wasn’t afraid of him suddenly revealing his true intentions. Still, he wasn’t going to take off his Shirt. “It’s going to dry soon anyway.”, he tried, his cheeks already flushed from the fever getting even redder.

 

“I can look away if that makes you feel better.”, Shiro offered, “I promise, I won’t do anything to hurt you!”

 

Keith sighed. Staying in his clothes wasn’t an option, he knew that and he probably wouldn’t get out of them by his own seeing that he could barely lift his arms and he was shivering violently from the cold. For the first time in his life he willingly had to rely on someone else than himself. “’kay.”, he mumbled and fumbled open his fly with shaking hands.

 

“May I?”, Shiro laid his hands upon Keith’s squeezing them reassuringly. The younger boy nodded slowly pulling his hands away. He bit his lip as Shiro pulled his jeans down his legs. “Can you lift up your arms?” Keith hesitated. He didn’t want Shiro to see his scars but he hadn’t much of another choice.

 

Keith closed his eyes not wanting to see the older one’s face as he helped him to take off his Shirt. A hiss indicated Shiro had noticed the marks. He clenched his hands into fists.

 

“Do you want to try and take off your shorts by yourself?”

 

He opened his eyes surprised by Shiro deciding not to comment on the scars. He nodded as an answer and watched Shiro turn around to offer him some privacy and get him dry boxer shorts from his shed. He managed to scramble out of his underwear drawing his legs up to cover himself as the older boy turned around again.

 

Like he’d promised, Shiro didn’t look as he handed Keith the shorts. “You need help?”

 

“I get along.”, Keith put them on as fast as possible his cheeks red from embarrassment.

 

Shiro helped him into the huge sweater and the jogging trousers. He had to smile as he saw how adorable Keith looked in his clothes that were way too big on him. Smiling he ruffled his hair.

 

Keith let himself fall back into the pillows sighing contently. The chills and the almost drowning in addition to his fever had exhausted him.

 

As he went into another coughing fit Shiro remembered Keith still hadn’t drank the tea he’d made this morning and that had gone cold by now. He was really horrible at taking care of people. Of course, Keith had fainted, he had to be completely dehydrated!

 

“Here, drink this!”, he pushed a glass of water into his hands, “Shall I make you some tea?”

 

The younger boy only shook his head shaken by another fit. “Tired.”, he wheezed.

 

“Okay. I’ll get you something to eat and drink later then. But would you let me take your temp before going to sleep?”

 

Weakly Keith nodded. Shiro sat down on the edge of the bed covering his brother with a blanket and pushing the thermometer between his lips. “103.2”, he let out a low whistle. “That’s not so good, buddy.”, he stroked his hair and for once Keith didn’t think about jerking away from the hand. He was too tired to deny that he actually liked the sensation of Shiro’s nails scraping his scalp.

 

Keith stifled two small sneezes into the blanket making the older boy smile affectionately.

 

“Did anyone ever tell you, you sneeze like a-“

 

“Yes!”, Keith groaned rolling in on himself.

 

Shiro laughed. “It’s cute. Now get some sleep.”

 

But only two hours later Keith was shaken awake by another violent coughing fit. His lungs burned with every breath he failed to take and he had to gasp for air. He felt himself pulled up and bent forward. Tears sprung to his eyes as he pressed his hands to his aching chest. From somewhere he could hear Shiro’s voice speaking reassuringly to him.

 

When the fit finally stopped he was too exhausted to hold himself up any longer and fell forward into Shiro’s chest. He failed in the attempt to pull back and decided to bury his throbbing head into the older boy’s biceps instead.

 

“Shhh! It’s okay!”, he was breathing too rapidly, he realized and Shiro was trying to calm him down. Strong arms were  wrapped around his warm body steadying him and he couldn’t help but melt against the older one.

 

“I think we should get you to hospital.”, Shiro finally said. “You don’t sound good at all.”

 

“No hospital!”, Keith who’d just calmed down a little felt himself panic again. He hated them! Too many bad memories were connected to hospitals and doctors.

 

“I don’t like them either but I fear this might develop into a pneumonia.”, Shiro sighed stroking the dark locks gently, “But if you want to I can call Matt’s father. He’s a doctor and maybe he can help you.”, he offered.

 

Keith honestly only wanted to be left alone so he could deal or not deal for that matter with this sickness like he always did. Still, he wasn’t stupid and knew that apparently with Shiro that wouldn’t be an option. He let out a few ticklish kitten sneezes and blew his nose into the tissue Shiro offered him before he nodded an “okay”.

 

Shiro knew he was a terrible care taker. If Keith got a pneumonia now it would be his fault. He shouldn’t have left him alone with a fever this high. What would have happened if he’d talked to Lance for another five minutes? He didn’t even want to think about it. “Good. I’ll call him as soon as you went back to sleep. How are you feeling otherwise?”

 

“Great.”, he coughed.

 

“Sure. But seriously. Headache? Stomachache? Do you feel like you’re about to throw up?”

 

“I’m fine.”

 

Shiro sighed. There were so many things he wanted to talk to Keith about. His past, his freak out this morning, the scars on his chest. But all in due time. “I don’t believe you.”, he gently pushed Keith back into a laying position tucking the blankets around his shoulders. “You’re still way too hot!”

 

“And you’re fussing.”

 

“Only a little.”

 

Keith tried to suppress a yawn which lead to another coughing fit. Shiro stroked his hair as the younger boy gasped for air. “See? I have good reason to fuss over you.”, he smiled, “Now get some rest, okay? I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

 

“Why are you doing this?”, he whispered feebly.

 

“What do you mean?” But as he turned around to face him, Keith had already closed his eyes and fallen asleep. Sighing Shiro got his cellphone sitting down at the edge of the bed again. He dialed the number of his friend’s house and while he waited for someone to pick up the phone, he stroked Keith’s hair affectionately feeling the heat pouring off of him.

 

“Hello?” Pidge.

 

“Hey, Katie. It’s me, Shiro.”

 

“Shiro?”, she sounded surprised. “Wow, haven’t heard from you in ages! Thought you’re too busy playing babysitter.”

 

“Haha, yeah. Actually, I’m calling because of Keith. He’s very sick and I wondered if your father could maybe come over to check on him.”

 

“Dad isn’t home at the moment but I’ll send him over as soon as he comes back. Is there anything we can do? Lance is really freaking out on Hunk and me since he knows Keith’s sick.”

 

Shiro couldn’t help but smile, “He really likes him, doesn’t he?”

 

“More like wants to fuck him. Not that he’d admit that though.”

 

Shiro swallowed on his own spit beginning to cough.

 

“Oh my god!”, Pidge laughed, “You’re such a Mum, Shiro! You don’t want to think about your baby brother having sex. God, this is so precious! Just wait until Matt hears about it! Call if you need anything!”, with that she hang up. He was in for some weird messages from his best friend later, Shiro knew.  

 

This reminded him at something else. There was still someone he had to call.

 

“Hey, Lance.”

 

“Shiro! Hey, how is Keith? Not that I’m worried or anything.”

 

“Not so good, I’m afraid. I asked Sam to come over but until then I need something to get his fever down. Would you maybe get me some paracetamol from the drugstore? I really don’t want to leave him alone right now.”, Shiro asked already knowing the answer.

 

“On my way!”

 

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang and Shiro went down to let the Cuban boy in. He was greeted with Lance holding a huge paperback in front of his face stepping past him before he could say anything. “Why don’t you come in?”, he sighed closing the door behind them.

 

“Where-“

 

“He’s upstairs sleeping. What on earth did you buy?”

 

“I only bought paracetamol. The rest is the chicken soup Hunk made and what we still had in stock. Three different cough syrups, Vicks VapoRub, teas, ginger ale, aspirin and so on.”, he explained.

 

“Lance, you’re a gem! I would heat the soup right now but I don’t want to leave him alone for too long. If I don’t stop him he might try to stand up and well, that didn’t work well the last time.”, Shiro didn’t want to kick the younger boy out, especially after he took all the trouble for them but he would never forgive himself if Keith woke up and stumbled on his way downstairs.

 

“I could keep an eye on him while you make the soup.”, Lance offered sounding a tick too excited for his own liking. “Only if this would help you, I mean, I don’t have anything to do anyway.”

 

Shiro hesitated. He had no idea how Keith would react if he woke up with an someone else than him by his side. Especially seeing their past. “Did you even talk to him once after he hit you in the eye?”

 

“…Kinda.”

 

“What does kinda mean?”

 

“I… might’ve asked him out on a Date?”, Lance scratched the back of his head.

 

“And what did he say?”

 

“He stared at me for like five minutes and then turned around without saying anything. Do you think that meant no?”

 

Shiro sighed shaking his head. “You know what? Go up! Just try not to wake him.”

 

“Sure thing, bro!”, the Cuban boy grinned running upstairs.

 

God, Shiro hoped Keith had a deep sleep. He doubted though that the two could work out as a couple. They were too different and he had no idea how Keith thought about Lance. On the other hand, one could never know. He looked after the Cuban boy smiling before he took the bag and went to the kitchen to reheat the soup.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my defense, I have no idea about medicin and don't know if a flu developing into a pneumonia actually works like that!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, as some of you might already know I'm on Holidays in Tenerife this week and hotel WLAN sucks. So, I might need a little longer to poat the next chapter or reply to your comments. Anyway, thanks to everyone who wrote a comment so far and to all the guys that are still reading this <3

Lance entered the room as quiet as possible. His eyes immediately fell onto the bed. Keith was laying tangled beneath the sheets; his cheeks were flushed from the fever and a thin layer of sweat covered his skin. His soaked bangs were hanging into his forehead and his breathing was flat and shallow. Nevertheless, he looked absolutely adorably. He grabbed a chair and pulled it towards the bed sitting down.

 

“Sh’ro?”, a muffled voice came from the bed. _Fuck_!

 

“Not quiet, buddy.”

 

Keith sat up abruptly which send him into a violent coughing fit.

 

“Whoa! Calm down! Shiro’s downstairs. He’s making soup for you and didn’t want to leave you alone for so long. Do you err, I don’t know, need something?”, Lance extended his hand to pat his back awkwardly but Keith flinched away.

 

“’M fine.”, he eyed the other boy suspiciously but the tears in his eyes from the harsh coughing spoiled the effect.

 

“I can see that!”, he said sarcastically, “Here, drink some water so you don’t die on me. Shiro’d kill me! He’s really worried about you.” 

 

“As if!”, Keith huffed sipping on the water Lance handed him.

 

“What do you mean? Shiro is one of the best guys I know. He really cares about you and right now the poor guy is a nervous wreck.”

 

“Why would he care about me?”, Keith cursed his fever. Usually he was able to stop himself before sentences like that left his mouth but his temperature seemed to slow down his brain thus he couldn’t keep his thoughts to himself. His tongue on the other hand was still working quiet well, mind you.

 

“Err, because you’re his brother?! He loves you! He’s always talking about you and after our fight he came to me and asked me to be nice to you and the whole morning he spent by your side hovering about you like the awkward mother hen he is. What does this tell you about him?”

 

“That he wants something from me?”

 

“What should he want from you? Not that you have nothing to offer but seriously what would he need from you? No, Shiro isn’t like that. He’s one of the good guys. If you give him a chance you will see.”, Lance gave him a smiled. Were they having a bonding moment right now?

 

Keith opened his mouth but instead of answering he let out an embarrassingly high-pitched kitten sneeze. Blushing he grabbed a tissue and buried his nose in it to stifle the oncoming fit.

 

“Oh god, this is the cutest thing I ever heard! You’re such a kitten! You know what? That’s how I’m going to call you from now on!”, he grinned.

 

“Do that and I’ll gut you!”, Keith threatened between two sneezes.

 

“Fine. I’m going downstairs and tell Shiro you’re awake and sneezing. Just stay in bed and don’t move. And speaking of Shiro you should really think about what I said. If you let him, he’s going to be the best big brother ever!”

 

“’kay.”, Keith breathed feeling exhausted from the fit.

 

“Get well soon, kitten!”, before the black haired boy could react Lance had sprung up, ruffled his hair and run out of the room grinning. Keith could hear him stumbling down the stairs noisily on his way to the kitchen. God, this boy was annoying! Still, some of the things he’d said about Shiro made him think. Maybe this was only a trap to gain his trust after all Shiro had already taken every possible trouble as far as he could think. But gradually he began to doubt Shiro was actually that way. He wouldn’t have to put that much effort in making him trust him. Keith had nowhere to run off to even if he wanted to and he doubted Shiro’s friends would ever testify against him; so far everyone seemed to love him. There was no hint Shiro had bad intentions and even after weeks the older boy had never touched him inappropriately, been violent or even raised his voice against him. And he had never seen anybody pretending this convincingly to be concerned.

 

Was Lance right? Had he judged him too quickly and should give him a chance? What if he did and it turned out he was the bastard Keith had taken him for right from the start? He would never forgive himself if his trust got betrayed again, after all he should know it better after all those years.

But what if Shiro was actually a great guy that truly cared about him? He could have a family! This was a dream Keith had given up on long ago after getting disappointed by another terrible foster family but now with Shiro this dream seemed so in reach again it physically hurt. Wouldn’t it be stupid to throw this away because he was _afraid_?

 

Groaning Keith buried his face into the pillow. Why had this to be so complicated? And why did he have to rack his brain about this right now while he was so full of flu and fever he could barely think straight?

 

“Keith?”, the younger boy flinched as he felt a hand squeezing his shoulder gently. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He turned around looking at Shiro who was carrying a tray with a bowl of soup, a cup of steaming tea and something that was apparently called Vicks VapoRub. He squinted at the small container trying to identify its content.

 

Shiro noticed his look, “This should help with the cough and the congestion. If you let me, I’ll rub it on your chest and back.”

 

Keith hesitated. „I can do this myself.”, he coughed.

 

“With your hands shaking like this? If you don’t mind, I’ll do this for you. Besides, you can’t even reach your back.”

 

The younger boy wasn’t too keen on getting touched all over but if this meant his chest would stop hurting so much whenever he inhaled and he’d be able to sleep longer than two hours straight, he could deal with it. He hadn’t much dignity left anymore anyway. Sighing he agreed. “Do I have to-“, he gestured at the Shirt.

 

It would indeed be easier if he took off his clothes but he knew how uncomfortable it made Keith so he shook his head. “No, the sweatshirt is wide enough.”, He opened the container rubbing the oily substance between his hands in the attempt to warm it a bit. “May I?”

 

Keith nodded and clenched his hands into fists when Shiro let his hands wander beneath his Shirt applying the balm on his chest and rubbing it in. If this whole situation didn’t make him so uncomfortable, he might be able to actually enjoy the sensation of his head clearing a little and his bronchia opening a bit thus he could actually inhale without wheezing automatically. He bit his lip whenever he could feel Shiro’s hand brush one of his scars accidently.

 

“Okay.”, Shiro smiled reassuringly at him pulling out his hand from beneath his sweatshirt, “Turn around now?”

 

Keith froze. He had been asked this more than once and so far, he’d never given in. With good reason. But this time it was different, right? Shiro had a decent reason to ask this of him. Oh so slowly he turned on his stomach letting Shiro message in the balm on his back.

 

“I hope you didn’t mind Lance was here. I asked him to bring over some paracetamol to help bring your fever down. He was very worried and I didn’t want to leave you on your own for too long so I told him it would be okay for him to go up.”, Shiro spoke up releasing him with a last gentle pat on his back.

 

“’S okay.”, Keith murmured already feeling sleepy again.

 

Shiro insisted on taking his temperature before Keith ate or drank anything hot. “103.1”, the older boy stated, “Well, at least it didn’t rise.”, he handed him the tea and two pills. Usually Keith would refuse any kind of medicine but he could actually identify these pills as paracetamol so he swallowed them together with the tea.

 

After Keith had finished the tea and the soup Shiro’d made for him he yawned muttering a thanks and laid back into the pillows. He wasn’t used to going to sleep while other people were watching him but he’d broken so many of his own rules today already (wittingly or unwittingly) he assumed it didn’t matter anymore.

 

The older boy began to stroke his hair gently as he noticed his brother’s sleepy state. “I hope Sam will come soon.”, Shiro said more to himself than to Keith.

* * *

 

It was already evening when Dr Holt finally stood in front of the door. He apologized for being late explaining he hadn’t been able to come sooner before he asked after Keith’s condition. Shiro lead him upstairs into his younger brother’s room where Keith was laying half asleep beneath the covers. Keith hadn’t been able to stay asleep for more than two hours at most without waking up and was still pretty tired accordingly.

 

Sam introduced himself and began his examination. Keith kept silent while the doctor listened to his chest, took his temperature and quickly spoke to Shiro about the incident in the tub. When he turned to him to ask a few questions the younger boy was short with him, mostly answering with a simple yes or no. Shiro stayed with him all the time doing most of the talking for which Keith was pretty grateful. He didn’t like talking in general and it was even worse with strangers, especially when they penetrated his personal space.

 

He liked Matt’s father though. Sam seemed to be a nice guy as far as he could say. He was friendly, respectful and calm – all of this were qualities Keith valued. Actually, he reminded him a little of Shiro. That didn’t erase his regular suspicions though.

 

When Sam was finally done, he confirmed Shiro’s suspicion of his flu developing into a pneumonia. “Though we can only be completely sure if we made a CT.”, he told them before he prescribed some antibiotics and bedrest for at least ten days and gave Shiro a list with everything that might help easing the pain and the symptoms that he should look out for and if they appeared take him to hospital immediately.

 

Keith was half pretty much asleep again when the doctor left. He only listened to Shiro thanking the older man for his coming with half an ear and jumped awake from his doze a few minutes later when Shiro squeezed his knee silently calling his name.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Here, I made you a hot-water bottle, you started shivering again.”, Shiro handed him the hot-water bag.

 

The younger boy mumbled a thanks trying hard to keep his eyes open.

 

“It’s getting late. Would you mind if I slept on the ground tonight?”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because I don’t want you to have to stand up if you need something or something’s wrong.” After what happened the last time he let Keith on his own for more than a few seconds he really didn’t want to leave.

 

Keith thought about Lance’s words as he made a decision he hoped he wouldn’t come to regret in the near future. “Floor’s uncomfortable. Ye can sleep in the bed.”, he offered yawning.

 

Shiro raised his eyebrows in surprise. That came unexpected. But maybe this was a good sign and meant Keith was slowly beginning to trust him. Anyway, he was grateful not having to sleep on the hard ground. “Are you sure?”

 

Keith nodded. This would be the ultimate test then. He curled in on himself hugging the hot-water bottle close to his chest his back pressed against the wall while Shiro went to his room changing into PJs. He hoped this wasn’t a mistake. He had actually invited him into his bed after all!

 

The older boy came back in his Pajamas as he was shaken by another coughing fit. Shiro rushed to his side helping him sit up and handing him a glass of water. When the coughing stopped Keith let himself fall back into the pillows exhausted.

 

Shiro put on the little lamp on the desk before he switched off the light and laid down next to Keith. He hadn’t brought along his own blanket since he was always running hot and Keith’s body heat and his long-sleeved Pajama would keep him warm enough without an additional cover. He watched his brother who’d closed his eyes and shifted as close to the wall as possibly like he always did. Keith wasn’t asleep, he knew this. Even in the dim light he could see that his jaw was tensed and his breathing was uneven. “You okay, buddy?”, he asked.

 

Without opening his eyes, Keith nodded.

 

Shiro yawned. “Don’t hesitate to wake me if you need something, okay?”

 

The younger boy opened his eyes. They were close even though he was already pressed against wall. He’d never sleep with his back facing towards the door even if it was locked, so turning his back on Shiro was completely out of question. “’kay.”, he whispered as he realized Shiro was still waiting for an answer. “Night.”

 

“Good night, buddy.”, Shiro smiled. He wanted to pull the younger boy closer and make him come out of his defensive state but he knew that wouldn’t work, so he let Keith decide on how much distance he wanted to put between them.

 

Soon he could hear Keith’s slightly labored breathing evening out after he’d fallen asleep. Shiro smiled at his brother who’d curled up on himself and for once actually looked kinda peaceful. He closed his eyes. After this unnerving exhausting day, he needed some rest too.

 


	10. Chapter 10

It was in the middle of the night when Shiro woke up. It was still dark outside and for a moment he was confused as for what had awoken him. But then his eyes fell onto Keith who was lying next to him. Immediately he sat up turning on the bedside lamp to confirm his suspicion.

 

Keith -still asleep- was a whimpering crying mess. His face was flushed from the fever and his sweaty bangs were hanging into his eyes as he tossed in turned in obvious displeasure. He moaned and thrashed about. Shiro didn’t know if he should be grateful that he wasn’t able to understand most of the things he said or not. Only the words “Stop” and “hurts” and “please” he could make out for sure. He clenched his hands into fists a he felt the blood drain from his face.

 

 _Fuck._ Keith hadn’t reacted well the last time he had a nightmare. Still, Shiro couldn’t let him sleep on like this. As gentle as possible he called his name and shook his shoulder. When his first attempt failed he tried it a little louder. “Keith? Come on, buddy, you gotta wake up!”, he pleaded, desperation in his voice.

 

Finally, Keith shot up with a last bloodcurdling scream. He was shaking terribly gasping for air. Before he’d even grasped what was happening he began coughing so violently it bent him in a half. Tears were still streaming down his cheeks as he clasped his hands to his chest.

 

“Keith! Keith, buddy, you gotta calm down!”, he tried to reassure his little brother by placing his hand onto his back but that made Keith only jerk away violently from him. His eyes were completely unfocused as he tried to get away from the older boy at all costs. He lashed out and dealt blows right and left. Shiro knew he was not intentionally trying to hurt him but in his panicked state he didn’t realize what he was doing.

 

Shiro didn’t want to scare the dark haired boy even more by doing anything that might upset him but he was getting dangerously close to the wall and he didn’t want Keith to hurt himself either. As gently as possible he pulled the younger boy onto his lap shielding him from the hard edges of the bed and the wall with his arms. Keith was screaming and sobbing and coughing as he hammered on Shiro’s chest trying to struggle free. “No!”, he screamed, “No, let me go!”

 

“Keith! It’s me, Shiro. You’re okay. Nobody’s going to hurt you, it was just a bad dream, you hear me? I won’t let anyone hurt you again, I promise! I’m here now.”, he told him in the hope it might calm him a little.

 

Slowly Keith stopped screaming and punching when he finally realized where he was. “Sh-Sh’ro?”, he wheezed.

 

 _Thank god_!, Shiro exhaled in relieve. “I’m here, buddy!”, he said stroking back the sweat soaked bangs from his burning forehead. “It’s over now!”, he promised and since Keith made no attempt to pull away he drew him even closer rocking them back and forth gently.

 

The younger one was still sobbing and coughing as he leaned against Shiro. “I-I’m s-s-sor-sorry f-for hit-hitting y-you.”, he stammered pressing his feverish forehead against the taller boy’s shoulder.

 

“Shhh! It’s okay. Don’t worry about it, buddy.”, he was pleasantly surprised by the younger one not trying to push him away. Either he was really starting to trust him or he felt to miserable to refuse help. He hoped for the first one. Would he push his luck if he asked about the dream? Right now, Keith seemed relatively unguarded. Well, compared to usually at least. “Do you wanna talk about it?”, he asked his still crying brother.

 

“N-no.”

 

“Okay.”, Shiro took one of the blankets wrapping it tightly around Keith sitting on his lap his side pressed against his chest. Since the younger boy was still trembling he wrapped his arms tightly around his shivering frame as he kept swaying them back and forth. Ten minutes later Keith finally seemed to calm down a little.

 

“Can I ask you something?” He should probably just shut up already. Keith had already made so much progress today and he didn’t want to go too far by interrogating him about his past. Still, something told him it would be okay.

 

Keith nodded tiredly.

“Did you- I mean… Have you ever-“, he sighed, “I don’t know how to say this.”

 

“Spill it already.”, Keith murmured exhaustedly.

 

“Were you sexually abused in the past?” Shiro held his breath as he waited for Keith’s reaction. Had he gone too far?

 

For a very long time Keith didn’t say anything. It was like he’d just completely frozen; no emotions to recognize on his face. Apart from his wheezing nothing was to hear the next few minutes. Shiro didn’t push him, only sat there next to him quietly offering comfort by letting his fingers run through his longish strands. Finally, Keith nodded.

 

Shiro let out the breath he’d been holding.

 

The younger boy squeezed his eyes shot waiting for Shiro to tell him how disgusting and weak he was. He prided himself to be pushed away and screamed at, so he was completely surprised as Shiro wrapped his arms around him tightly and began to whisper gently in his ear. “Shhh! It’s okay. You’re gonna be okay. Just let it all out!”, it was only now that Keith realized he’d started to cry again. He wiped his eyes furiously but he just couldn’t stop the sobbing. Eventually he gave in letting the older man hold him as he wept pathetically into his Shirt. Everything just came together and crashed down on him all at one. “I’m here for you now! You can trust me!”, Shiro whispered stroking his hair.

 

“But I don’t even know what you want from me!”, he cried for once not caring what this might mean, “How can I know you’re not like them?”

 

Shiro felt sick to the stomach. Had Keith expected him to do something like _this_ all along? “Because you’re my little brother.”, he offered but even while he said this he knew it was by far not enough. “I know you can’t trust me yet but I’ll do everything to prove it!”, he said, “Tell me what you need and I’ll do it! Keith, I’d never do anything like this to you! Just thinking about it makes me sick, okay? You’re the only family I have left and I could never hurt you.”, Shiro knew he was rambling which was pretty unusual for him. Normally he was fairly good with comforting and reassuring people and knew what he had to say in most situations. Well, it seemed like he’d found an exception. How was he supposed to make his scared traumatized little brother who’d been betrayed and used this often in his short live see that he could trust him? Yes, the fact that he wasn’t pushing him away right now was a good sign but what would be if he wasn’t sick anymore and his fever broke? Would this change his mind again? Was him feeling so miserable the reason for his honesty? He kept stroking his hair while Keith pressed closer to him.

 

The younger boy knew this wasn’t a guaranty but for now it was enough for him. He shifted so he could wrap his arms around Shiro’s neck and bury his head into the taller one’s shoulder.

 

Shiro could feel his brother’s grip tightening on him and did the same. Keith’s skin felt too hot against his neck and he was still muffling coughs and sobs into his shoulder. He knew Keith had to calm down or he would get worse but he couldn’t bring himself to let go of him. Not now where he finally had the chance to be there for him. He stroked up and down his back and played with his dark strands whispering “I’ve got you! Everything’s going to be all right!” over and over again.

 

It took almost a full hour until Keith slowly stopped crying. He was too exhausted to even raise his head and had practically melted against his chest. Shiro was still rocking them back and forth and tended to his running nose with a tissue. “You okay?”, he asked hesitantly. There were still so many things he wanted to tell Keith and so many questions that needed to be answered. Not yet though. He had to wait until Keith was better and ready to talk.

 

„Mmhhh“, the younger boy muttered exhausted.

 

Shiro carefully grabbed the water bottle next to the bed and let him take a few sips before he wrapped him up into the blanket Keith had kicked away after the nightmare. The smaller boy didn’t protest when Shiro positioned him on his lap in a way that allowed him to press Keith’s side against his chest and cradle him. He didn’t think about letting go of him as Keith rubbed his flushed cheek against his Shirt lightly. “If you like to we can talk about everything tomorrow. For now, you should try to go back to sleep and get some rest so you’ll feel all better tomorrow.” He suggested.

 

Keith nodded. “Tired.”, he affirmed yawning. “You’ll stay?”

 

“If you don’t mind.” Shiro didn’t want to leave but he would accept Keith’s decision even if he doubted his brother wanted him to go. Still, it was important for the younger boy to know he was in control.

 

Keith cracked his tired eyes open and the smallest hint of a smile played on his lips as he wrapped his arms around Shiro’s middle. This was probably the most beautiful thing Shiro would ever see and he knew that. He had to wipe away a tear unsuspiciously. Keith slid further down thus his head rested in Shiro’s lap and his nose was pressed in his stomach. Gently he stroked his brother’s hair while he drifted off to sleep. Shiro knew if he kept sitting like this he would have a stiff back in the morning but for now he couldn’t care less.

 

After Keith had fallen asleep he watched him until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.

 

For now, the ice had broken.

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back! Holidays were nice but I missed you. Since this is the secondlast chapter and I don't really want this to be over, I wondered if any of you would be interested in OneShots to this AU or something. Like I'd open this to a series and write whenever I have a idea (or if you have a suggestion). For example I could imagine writing Klance's first date or I don't know, Shiro and Keith having The Talk or whatever. I'd only do this if you're actually interested in it though cause I actually am already working on a new Story again. So, let me know what you think.

Keith was still asleep when Shiro woke up the next morning. His neck was stiff and his back hurt from the uncomfortable sleeping position but when he saw his brother’s peaceful expression on his sleeping face and the dark locks that hang into his eyes he found that it was completely worth it. Keith looked absolutely adorable all curled up on his lap like this and it somehow made him sad to think about the fact he didn’t have the possibility to be there for him before and see him grow up. He wondered how Keith had been with six, ten, twelve years old. If Keith wouldn’t have been robbed of his childhood and innocence, would he be more amenable now? More like him? Their parents?

 

„Sh’ro?“ the younger boy cracked his eyes open obviously having woken up without his brother noticing.

 

“Good morning, buddy.”, he smiled pressing his hand against his forehead, “Your fever has gone down  bit. How are you feeling?”

 

“Isn’t this uncomfortable?”, he yawned pointing at their position.

 

“It’s okay.”, Shiro said rubbing his hurting neck.

 

Keith slipped from his lap giving the taller boy room to properly lay down next to him. Shiro looked out of the window and found that it was still early. They had a hard night behind them and both of them could so with some more sleep.

 

The dark haired boy snuggled closer to Shiro hesitantly and the older one pulled him in against his chest. Soon he’d dozed off leaving Shiro to his thoughts once again.

 

Keith couldn’t remember when he‘d slept that well for the last time. Despite the fever and headache, he felt comfortable warm and cozy and – he couldn’t believe he was going to say this – secure. His face was buried in Shiro’s biceps and a warm hand was resting on the small of his back. He kept his eyes closed as he shuffled closer to the warm body next to him. He had no idea how late it was or if Shiro was awake but for now he didn’t care. It was like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and for the first time in years he actually let himself _hope_. Maybe it would be different this time. Perhaps Shiro truly cared about him. Did he have a family now?

 

A hand came up stroking over his back and tangled in his hair. So Shiro was awake. He felt the older boy kiss his forehead checking for a fever. “Still warm.”, he heard the older boy say, “Hey, buddy, you with me?”

 

“Mmhhh.”, Keith cracked his eyes open propping himself up a little thus he could look at Shiro who immediately handed him a glass of water ordering him to drink. “How late is it?” he mumbled.

 

“Almost ten. How are you feeling?”

 

“Good.”

 

“Are you feeling up for some talking?”

 

Keith sighed. He’d known it would come to this eventually. “What do you want to know?”

 

“Whatever you’re ready to share.”, he answered rubbing small circles on the younger boy’s back. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t feel comfortable with.”

 

“I don’t know where to start.”

 

“Well, why don’t you start with Mum? After she left Dad didn’t talk much about her.”

 

Keith bit his lip. “I’m not sure I should do this. That might destroy your image of her.”

 

“After she left, started doing drugs and kept you secret from me and Dad there isn’t much to destroy anymore, believe me!”, Shiro snorted.

 

Sighing, Keith gave in. “Okay. Well, I don’t know how much you remember about her but she has always been a little… restless. When she found out she was pregnant with me, the realization hit her that she’d be mother of two children living with her husband in a nice suburb and well apparently that was too much. She wanted to break away and when she met this guy at a party, she took her chance. As far as I know she hadn’t told anybody about me so she wouldn’t have too much trouble with her husband because she was leaving. She ran off with this guy who turned out to be a drug dealer. She got addicted. First, it were only joints, then LSD and harder stuff. They only stayed together for a few months before she dumped him. After that she had a lot of one night stands and short-term relationships.”, Keith made a pause to see how his brother was reacting to the new information about their mother and to figure out if it would be wise to continue.

 

Shiro couldn’t believe Krolia had been taking drugs while pregnant with Keith! What kind of mother did something like that? He hadn’t expected much of her after everything he’d heard but this was really scraping the barrel now! Unconsciously, he pulled Keith closer waiting for the younger boy to continue.

 

“Most of her boyfriends were assholes and either took drugs or dealt with them. Since she needed money she started dealing too. That was okay. I didn’t mind being alone at home as long as she forgot to ask one of her friends to ‘watch over’ me. It honestly creeped me out a little when they were high and started saying weird things. It was already bad enough when she was like this. I had to be seven or eight when her current boyfriend suggested a child might look less conspicuous and she started sending me through the town with a backpack of drugs. It worked. No one would suspect an eight year old child to carry drugs around and I could even go by public transit.”

 

“She used you as a drug dealer?!” Shiro stared at him in disbelieve.

 

“Yes and it worked well. Until one day cops with narcotic detection dogs showed up at the subway where I was about to enter a train. I got caught. The police didn’t know what to do with me. I didn’t really gasp what I did wrong, after all Mum and pretty much everybody I knew dealt too. I was scared and didn’t know what was happening and it took almost the whole night until the officer managed to calm me down and get my name and Mum’s phone number out of me.”, he chuckled darkly to masquerade a sob. Apparently, he wasn’t too successful in his doings since he could feel the older boy squeeze him reassuringly. “They called her but she didn’t answer the phone so they send two officers to our small flat. She’d run off with her current boyfriend. When I didn’t come home she knew what happened and that soon the police would find her and want to know why her nine year old son was running around on his own with a bag full of LSD. She’d scribbled _I’m sorry_ on a note for me and pinned it on the fridge so I would see it. As if that made up for her leaving me behind! Later that day, the police got a call. She had an accident on her way out of town and was in a coma. The doctors said it would be very unlikely for her to wake up again and I should tell her goodbye. That was how I came in foster care.”, he finished.

 

All color had drained from Shiro’s face and he had to swallow convulsively. He felt sick. He knew Keith didn’t want to be pitied but this was just horrible! Why hadn’t Krolia simply sent him home to live with him and Dad? He would’ve been an amazing big brother! He would’ve protected Keith in school from the mean kids, taken him out for ice cream and gone into the zoo with him. Instead, Keith had to deal with drugs, violence and sexual abuse. It wasn’t fair. He only noticed how tight he was pressing his brother against his chest when Keith began to wheeze. “Sorry. I just wish I could’ve spared you that experience.”

 

“S’okay.”, Keith shrugged, “It wasn’t always bad. She taught me how to read when I was four and when she wasn’t high she went into the park with me in the night and showed me the stars. At some point she even taught me how to use a knife. In her own twisted way, she loved me.”

 

“She taught you how to use a knife???”

 

“Yeah, y’know, stuff like throwing them like in movies and doing tricks with them. If you want to I can show you sometime.”

 

Shiro wanted to say that it didn’t sound appropriate for a mother to teach her child such things but the way Keith’s eyes were shining made him smile too. “Sounds good, buddy.”

 

Keith let his head rest upon the older boy’s chest smiling tiredly. Getting these things off his chest actually felt good.

 

This had been the best time of his life, Shiro realized as he noticed the nostalgic expression on his brother’s face. Well, he was going to change this. He would create new happy memories for the both of them. “Well, I don’t know how to throw a knife but if you want to we can go out and watch the stars too as soon as you feel better.”

 

Keith beamed at him. “Really?”

 

“Of course!” Shiro’s heart melted at seeing his little brother happy and excited for the first time. It was like somebody had flicked a switch. Keith was beginning to trust him and actually opened up to him. Unlike the last weeks, he indeed seemed relaxed and comfortable with his presence and he didn’t seem to mind the physical contact. Had he finally gotten through to him? Well, it almost seemed like this. “I promise, it’s the first thing we’re gonna do when your fever brakes. And I already know a few great places from where you have an amazing view on the night sky!” God, he would do everything to keep that smile on the younger boy’s face!

 

Keith let him ruffle his hair affectionately and leaned into the taller boy’s touch. It felt so good to let loose for once. He knew there was still the chance that Shiro wasn’t what he pretended to be but well, the older boy seemed to be worth the risk.

 

Shiro didn’t expect him to continue talking, after all Keith had given him a lot of personal information already but to his great surprise he did. All these things had probably dammed and now that he didn’t have to hold back anymore he couldn’t help but let it all out. Shiro stayed as calm as possible while Keith told him about the foster homes he’d been at and the people he’d lived with. He didn’t go as far into detail as he had in the narration about their mother but he told Shiro enough to have him knowing what kind of abuse or emotional torture he had to endure at the various homes.

 

The last part was probably the worst. The man Keith had lived with – a respected member of society, husband and father on the surface -  had done everything to get his trust. Then, he’d destroyed his self-esteem and made him believe he was a worthless piece of shit. When Keith was broken enough for his likings, he began dragging Keith into the basement in the middle of the night while his wife and daughter slept peacefully upstairs and raped him.

 

Of course, Keith hadn’t said it like this but Shiro was quite good in reading between the lines by now. No wonder Keith had been so suspicious! The younger boy had started to cry at some point again. He wasn’t frantically sobbing like yesterday much to Shiro’s relieve but he was shedding big tears almost completely silently instead. Shiro had pulled him closer immediately and let him wet his Shirt while Keith told him about another abusive family that had hated him for his sexuality.

 

“You don’t mind me being gay, right?”, he sniffed looking up at Shiro with huge violet eyes.

 

“Of course not!”, he assured him pressing a light kiss upon his forehead, “I’ll support you no matter what!”

 

Keith opened his mouth to mutter a thanks but Shiro stopped him from doing so not wanting to hear his brother thanking him for something that should be absolutely natural. There were a lot of things he still wanted to ask. For example, had Keith never mentioned if the police had arrested those rapists for what they did or if they were still on the loose. And what about hospital? Keith had been examined to check him for STDs, right? But for now, he found his little brother had suffered enough. “How about we go downstairs and watch a movie to take your mind off of theses things?”, he suggested. “I could make us something to eat and put on some Netflix or something.”

 

Keith smiled like this was the first time somebody asked him anything comparative.

 

“I take this as a yes. So, what’s your favorite movie?”

 

The younger boy shrugged. “I don’t know. Never watched much TV.”

 

“Oh, well, anything you always wanted to watch?”

 

Keith grinned. “Actually, I always wanted to watch Star Wars.”

 

“You never watched Star Wars? Come on we’re gonna change this immediately!”, he scooped the smaller boy up in his arms before he could protest and made his way downstairs.

 

“I can walk by myself!”, he tried weakly but was interrupted by an oncoming coughing fit.

 

Shiro carefully dropped him onto the couch in the living room and covered him with two heavy woolen blankets. “I’ll get you some tea!”, he said running off to the kitchen “What do you want to eat?”

 

“Don’t care. I’m not too hungry anyway.”

 

“Okay, I’ll just reheat the soup from yesterday then.” A few minutes later Shiro came back into the living room with a tray in his hands. He put the tea, two glasses of ginger ale, a pack of tissues, the soup and a few sandwiches down. Then, he sat down behind Keith thus the younger boy could lean against his chest. Keith seemed to be surprised by his actions and froze. “Is this okay?”, Shiro asked hoping he wasn’t overstepping his bounds.

 

Keith relaxed and Shiro could feel him sack against him. “Sure. Sorry, I just-“

 

“You don’t have to apologize for anything, bud!”, Shiro rested his chin on top of Keith’s head, “You can tell me if you don’t feel comfortable with something. I won’t ask any questions.”

 

This seemed to reassure the younger boy and when Shiro went back to stroking his hair, he let out a content sigh.

 

Smiling, the taller boy switched on the TV and started to play Star Wars - The Phantom Menace. He hugged Keith close to his chest and within one hour his brother had fallen asleep in his arms. “I’m not going to let anybody take you away from me.”, he whispered into the sleeping boy’s ear.

 

Shiro didn’t think about getting up and risking to wake his brother. Instead, he kept him close by while he paused the movie and put on something else. They could continue the movie when Keith had woken up again.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for all the kudos and your nice comments! It really makes me sad that this will be over now. I already opened this to a series though so if you want to read the short stories and one shots I'm going to write, don't hesitate to bookmark the series or something. I already got two prompts but I'm still collecting ideas so if you have something to add, please do!

Shiro had planned to use the next two weeks where Keith was on bedrest and he didn’t have to go to work – thanks to Coran – to get to know his brother better and bond a little with him. Well, the first thing he learned was just how difficult it could be to keep the younger boy in bed. The fever had broken two days ago and now Keith didn’t see any reason to remain lying down. Shiro almost had to laugh at the utterly betrayed look Keith had given him as he’d told him that he had to stay in bed even though he was not actively dying anymore.

 

He couldn’t hide his relieve though when Keith was slowly starting to look better and his health improved every day. He was still reserved and guarded at times but with increasing frequency he let information slip that helped the older boy to understand him better. Also, he didn’t flinch back from his touch that often anymore and the first time he initiated a hug, the older boy had almost started to cry. Every day now, Keith seemed more trusting and his fast progression amazed Shiro.

 

Of course, he still had his bad days where he barely talked and especially when nightmares were plaguing him he wouldn’t come to him on his own accord but all in all he seemed to feel better and looked like it too.

 

As soon as his fever had broken, Shiro’d made good on his promise to watch the stars with him. He’d wrapped up his still sickly brother into a blanket and carried him onto their rooftop from where one had a fabulous view onto the sky. It had been truly beautiful and Shiro wondered why he’d never done this before.

 

The Saturday after Keith’s first week back at school, Shiro took him to the clinic Sam was working at. Apparently, no one had ever bothered to check him for sexually transmitted diseases and even though Keith hadn’t been too excited on the prospect of going to the hospital, Shiro had insisted on it. After all it was about his health and it were only a few tests thus he wouldn’t even have to stay the night. So, he’d talked to Sam and gotten an appointment for today.

 

“Everything’s okay?”, he jumped up when Keith came back into the waiting room after the examination.

 

He had his head bowed and didn’t look up as he went over to his brother.

 

Shiro looked from Keith to Sam who was following him.

 

“So far, we didn’t find anything but half of the tests will take a little longer until we have clear data. The Aids test has to be repeated in three weeks, three months and six months from now.”, he took off his glasses stepping a little closer to them, “Look, I don’t know the exact circumstances but something tells me you weren’t content with all of those sexual contacts you reported. I can recommend someone you could talk-“

 

“No, thanks! That won’t be necessary.”, Keith pressed, “Are you coming, Shiro?”, he hurriedly passed the two men needing some fresh air.

 

“Sorry. This is not easy for him.”, Shiro apologized quietly, “Thanks for your help, Sam! I’ll call you later.”

 

“Of course. Just watch out for him, okay?”

 

Shiro nodded before he quickly followed his brother to the car. “Are you okay, buddy?”

 

“Sure, you heard Dr Holt.”, he answered still refusing to look up at him as they entered the car.

 

“That wasn’t what I meant.”

 

None of them said anything during the ride home. Shiro glanced worriedly at the younger boy every now and then. He considered starting a conversation but Keith didn’t seem comfortable with talking at the moment and he at least wanted to give him the possibility to retreat.

 

“Keith-“, he started once they’d entered the safety of their four walls.

 

“I’m going to lay down. I feel a little dizzy from the blood sampling.”, he stated going upstairs.

 

Shiro sighed. He knew better than to press but in situations like this it was hard not to force Keith to listen to him and shake some sense into the boy.

 

Keith skipped dinner this evening and refused to come out of his room. Shiro didn’t take it personal. He couldn’t imagine how he would feel after having to endure so much pain and abuse and dealing with all the isolation. It was only natural for Keith to be confused and vulnerable and not knowing how to deal with the whole situation. Still, Shiro was worried.

 

He put a plate with a sandwich in front of his door before he went to bed himself hoping Keith would feel better in the morning.

* * *

 

“Shiro?”

 

The older boy was roused by someone calling his name quietly. He shot up in fear. If Keith was waking him up at this point of time – his clock told him it was 3:15 in the morning – something terrible must’ve happened. Was the house on fire? But as hard as he tried he couldn’t make out the smell of something burning. “Keith, you ok-“, he stopped in his mid-sentence taking in the smaller boy’s appearance. _Oh_. 

 

Keith was still wearing one of Shiro’s too big tank tops and boxer shorts as a pyjama. His skin was pale and tracks of tears were visible on his cheeks. He stood a few feet away from the bed like a lost puppy and it looked like he was still not sure if he wanted to stay or run back to his room.

 

Shiro immediately realized that Keith’d had another nightmare. The dreams were nothing new but the fact that he actually came to him, well, that was. Shiro’s heart swelled. “Come here!”, he told him scooting over and lifting the edge of the blanket thus he could crawl into bed.

 

Keith hesitated only for a moment before he climbed in snuggling into the older boy’s side.

 

“Do you wanna talk about it?”, Shiro asked already knowing the answer.

 

Keith shook his head letting out a sob and buried his face into the older boy’s chest. Shiro hugged him tightly as he stroked in big circles over his back. After his fever broke all those weeks ago he had started sleeping in his own bed again not wanting to impose but not for the first time now, he wondered if this had been a mistake. “Do you want to sleep here?”

 

Keith looked up at him with wet eyes. “Can I?”

 

“Of course!”, Shiro had told him more than once that he was always welcome to stay with him if he didn’t want to be alone or had nightmares. Apparently, Keith only now began to understand that this had been more than idle talk. “I’m proud of you, you know that?”

 

Keith looked at him in confusion. “What for? Waking you in the middle of the night and crying into your Shirt like a three-year-old?!”

 

The older boy smiled affectionately at him. “Crying doesn’t mean you’re weak, Keith. It takes a lot of courage to trust somebody. Especially after one has been betrayed that often.”

 

He hesitated, “I trust you.”

 

“And I’m proud of you for not giving up and giving me a chance.”

 

“I don’t think anyone has ever been proud of me before. I only hope I won’t disappoint you.”

 

Shiro pressed his lips in a gentle kiss against the younger boy’s forehead. “You could never disappoint me, buddy!”, he promised. Keith seemed to relax a little at this and hugged the older man closer. Shiro let his fingers run through the tangled strands of Keith’s bedhead until the tension had completely left his body. He wondered if his brother would be able to go back to sleep anytime soon or if he still had something on his mind.

 

Keith remained silent for the next few minutes. He enjoyed the sensation of Shiro stroking his back and caressing his hair. It was ridiculous, really, a few months ago this wouldn’t have sounded comforting to him in the least and now it was almost putting him to sleep. “Lance asked me out.” He admitted finally what he was thinking about since almost three days.

 

“That’s great! What did you say?” Was this why he hadn’t put on much of a fight as Shiro had _offered_ to take him to the doctor today?

 

“I said I would ask you.”

 

“Me? But you don’t need my permission to go out with Lance.”, It honestly surprised Shiro a little that Keith would say something like this. Unless… “Or don’t you want to go out with Lance and don’t know how to tell him?”

 

“It’s not that! I just- I don’t know what to do in a relationship! What if he- or if he tries to- and I can’t give him-“, he gave it up with a frustrated groan.

 

Shiro understood. Keith had no experience with relationships. He was still relatively new to their new trusted bond and when Shiro thought about what Keith probably understood by a sexual relationship, he simply felt sick. “Maybe it’s too early for this.”, he suggested carefully, “If this is the case, there’s nothing bad about telling Lance you don’t want a relationship just yet. Or you can let me talk to him. But if you want to go out with him, I’m sure he won’t mind taking it slow. You don’t have to do anything you aren’t comfortable with and Lance will tell you the same.”

 

“He’s a good guy, right?”

 

“If I wasn’t so sure of that I wouldn’t let you go away with him.”, Shiro confirmed.

 

Keith returned his smile. “I guess, I’ll give it a go then. Thank you, Takashi.”, he yawned rubbing his eyes.

 

“Of course. Why don’t you try to get some sleep? You look like you’re about to drop dead.”

 

Keith nodded yawning again and let Shiro tuck the blanket tightly around them. “You’re a great brother.” He whispered and meant it. No one had done as much for him as Shiro. For the first time in his life he felt actually loved and could see a future and all of this thanks to Shiro.

 

The older boy felt his heart rending. Not knowing what to say he simply squeezed him tight and didn’t let go of him again until Keith’s breath was evening out and he was sure the younger boy was asleep. He wiped away a tear he hadn’t even noticed shedding. So, he finally had a family. And he would do everything in his power to keep him safe and sound.

 

Listening to the younger one’s steady breathing, he finally fell asleep too never letting go off the sleeping boy in his arms.

 

 


End file.
